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Director Greta Gerwig's take on "Barbie" - the year's No. 1
movie, and the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film
directed by a woman - has made more than $351 million in the
U.S. and Canada since opening on July 21, and nearly $775
million globally, Comscore reported.
The film, which stars Margot Robbie in the titular role, and
Ryan Gosling as Barbie's iconic beau, Ken, sends Mattel Inc's
iconic doll on an adventure into the real world.
The toy maker last week posted a surprise second-quarter profit
in the wake of the movie's release, with CEO Ynon Kreiz telling
analysts the company would expand its "Barbie"-related toys and
products in the second half of 2023.
On Barbie's heels this weekend was "Oppenheimer," director
Christopher Nolan's historical tale of the physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer and the making of the atomic bomb, which made an
estimated $46.2 million Friday through Sunday in what Comscore
analyst Paul Dergarabedian called a "phenomenal second weekend."
The two films together have been dubbed "Barbenheimer," a nod to
the relative rarity of two blockbusters opening the same
weekend. Their combined sales are "absolutely mind blowing,"
Dergarabedian said, with second-weekend numbers that "would have
been hailed as opening weekend wins."
Universal's Oppenheimer has made $174 million in the U.S. and
Canada so far, and $400 million worldwide.
The films have seized American moviegoers' attention at an
uncertain time for Hollywood. The Writers' Guild of America, a
labor union representing writers, has been on strike over pay
since May, while SAG-AFTRA - the union for artists and actors,
including A-list stars like Robbie - went on strike earlier this
month.
(Reporting by Nicholas P. Brown, Editing by Peter Henderson and
Aurora Ellis)
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