'Barbie' movie makes box office history
The Greta Gerwig-directed film has captured the imagination of millions of Barbie-lovers all over the world.
The rumoured $100-million (R1.7-billion) spent on the marketing campaign for the 'Barbie' movie has paid off.
The live-action film is on track to becoming one of the biggest movies of 2023 following its July 21 release date.
According to Variety, 'Barbie' had the biggest debut of the year at the North American box office. It earned a cool $155-million (R2.7-billion) and a place in history for director Greta Gerwig.
'Barbie' is the biggest debut in history for a film directed by a female. The international box office added a further $182-million (R3.2-billion) to its opening weekend takings.
The cast of 'Barbie' includes Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the lead roles of Barbie and Ken.
There are several other Barbies and Kens in the film. Award-winning actress Issa Rae plays President Barbie, singer Dua Lipa brings Mermaid Barbie to life, and Emma Mackey stars as Physicist Barbie.
America Ferrera plays Mattel employee Gloria.
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'Barbie' is also a major hit with film critics. It currently has an impressive 90% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 304 reviews.
Margot revealed in an interview with Extra TV that she believes the PG-13 rated movie is for everyone.
"It was literally crafted to be for everyone... This is a big party and everyone's invited...The whole movie plays on so many different levels. So much of it is so silly and absurd and ridiculous and I think little kids in particular - and people who care about design - are just going to be blown away by Barbieland because the craftmanship is so incredible," she said.
The 33-year-old says men will also find the film appealing.
"And then there's some pretty profound conversations happening at the same time. I wasn't expecting to finish reading the 'Barbie' script and be crying... There's comedy in there that I think will go over the kids' heads and adults are gonna laugh a lot.
"There's a lot of stuff in there that I things dudes are going to be like, 'Yeah, that was for me. I felt that one.' There's one part in particular that I think moms in particular are going to stand up out of their seat and be like, 'yes'."
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Barbenheimer
Despite the film's box office dominance, 'Oppenheimer' - starring Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, and Robert Downey Jr. - also came in strong at the box office.
The biographical drama film earned more than $80-million (R1.4-billion) at the North American box office with a worldwide total of $174.2-million
Dubbed the 'Barbenheimer' weekend, both films helped contribute to the fourth highest-grossing industry weekend ever.
“This is an unequivocally great weekend for moviegoing. 'Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ are complementing each other at the box office, not taking audience from each other," Franchise Entertainment Research's David A. Gross told Variety.
ALSO READ: Stacey and J Sbu's honest review of 'Barbie'
Watch the 'Barbie' movie trailer below:
Main image credit/YouTube ('Barbie' movie trailer, Warner Bros. Pictures)
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