Director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie grossed $70.5 million in opening day box office sales on Friday, the biggest opening day for any film this year, according to Variety, fueling hopes it (along with Oppenheimer, which opened with $33 million) could help turnaround a declining audience turnout.

Barbie surpassed opening day box office sales for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which opened to $51.8 million in June, according to Variety, and is projected to gross between $95 million and $110 million this weekend, putting the film on pace to land between box office numbers from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($106.11 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118.41 million) for the fourth-largest opening weekend this year.

Meanwhile, Oppenheimer, which opened to $33 million on its opening day, the third-largest this year, following $10.5 million in Thursday previews, has  projections of $50 million at the domestic box office for its opening weekend.

Barbie could break the record for the biggest opening weekend for any film directed by a woman. Captain Marvel—co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck—holds the record for any film with a female director after it opened to $153 million in 2019. Wonder Woman—directed by Patty Jenkins—holds the record for any movie solely directed by a woman, opening to $103 million in 2017.

Barbie opened to early reviews suggesting the film was a “pink fever dream” featuring a “flat emotional landing.” Analysts expected the same-day release for Barbie and Oppenheimer to alleviate low box office sales this year. 

Some big-budget films have underperformed at the box office so far, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which opened to $60 million its first weekend.

The domestic box office recorded $4.46 billion in ticket sales through June 20, a 20% increase over the previous year, though ticket sales are down 21% from 2019. 

Paul Dergarabedian, a film analyst, told Variety the combined same-day release of Barbie and Oppenheimer is a “movie marketers dream come true.” Other films are also expected to boost box office sales later this year, including The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Dune: Part Two, in addition to Disney’s The Marvels.

Source - Forbes

- Agencies