Topline
Barbie surpassed The Super Mario Bros. Movie on Thursday to become the highest-grossing film at the domestic box office so far this year, according to Variety, after being in theaters for only 35 days, as the summer blockbuster hit continues to break records.
‘Barbie’ has earned $575.4 domestically in its more than five weeks in theaters.
Key Facts
Barbie has earned $575.4 million in its more than five weeks in domestic theaters, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which has earned $574 million, Variety reported.
In its fifth weekend in theaters, Barbie was unseated from the top spot by Blue Beetle, a film from the DC Extended Universe; Blue Beetle earned $25.4 million at the domestic box office this past weekend, while Barbie earned $21.5 million.
The Greta Gerwig-directed film took in more than $52 million in its fourth weekend in theaters—more money than opening weekends for films like Elemental, which earned $29.5 million domestically when it opened, or Scream VI, which earned $44.4 million in its opening weekend.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse ($381 million), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($359 million) and The Little Mermaid ($297.2 million) round out the top five highest grossing domestic films of the year so far, according to Box Office Mojo.
Big Number
28. That’s how many consecutive days Barbie earned the No. 1 box office spot before it was dethroned by Blue Beetle, according to Box Office Mojo.
What To Watch For
Barbie is likely to surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie at the international box office as well. Barbie has earned $1.3 billion globally, compared to The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s more than $1.35 billion, according to Variety.
Tangent
While Barbie has seen great success in much of the world, a handful of countries have banned their citizens from seeing the film. Barbie has been pulled from theaters in Algeria and Kuwait because of objections to the film’s themes of gender and sexuality. It was banned in Vietnam because of a scene that included a map that appeared to show China’s contested territorial claims in the South China Sea—Warner Bros. disputed the claim, describing the drawing as “child-like.”
What We Don’t Know
Despite its continued success at the domestic box office, Barbie could be banned in a handful of additional countries. In Lebanon, where the film is scheduled to premiere at the end of the month, officials have said they may also ban the film from theaters, following the lead of other Middle Eastern countries.
Key Background
Since it opened in mid-July, Barbie has broken multiple records. It had the highest-grossing opening weekend of the year, bringing in $162 million during its first three days in theaters. Barbie had the biggest domestic opening ever for a non-superhero film or sequel. Last week, Gerwig earned the title of highest-grossing female director of all-time at the domestic box office, surpassing the previous record held by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck for Frozen II. On Wednesday, Barbie became Warner Bros.’ highest grossing domestic release, surpassing The Dark Knight. Stars of the live-action film include Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrera and Dua Lipa. The film also includes a pop soundtrack produced by Mark Ronson.
Further Reading
‘Barbie’ Banned In Algeria—Here’s Where Else You Can’t See The Box Office Hit (Forbes)
