The Barbie movie to ‘smash Oppenheimer at the box office’
Published on Jul 19, 2023 at 12:54 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jul 20, 2023 at 12:09 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
People can’t stop talking about the Barbie movie.
Partly because of the quirky Easter Egg Google came up with (Google ‘Barbie’ and see what happens) but mainly because the film is expected to do much better than initially expected at the box office.
In fact, according to AMC Theaters and Warner Bros., Barbie is expected to outperform Oppenheimer, which is scheduled to be released on the same day.
READ MORE: This Barbie Airbnb is now available to rent
Oppenheimer and Barbie are mentioned in the same breath because they both happen to drop on July 21, and they both cost $100+ million to make, but the two movies couldn’t be more different.
The thing with Barbie, and this is likely the reason why people are already loving it, is this movie isn’t trying to change the world.
You’re not looking at two hours (running time is 1 h 54 m to be exact) of introspective psychology – it’s just entertainment.
And, as the wild success of Top Gun: Maverick recently proved, that’s exactly what people want: a nice movie they can sit down and eat pop corn to.
The Barbie character has appeared in over 40 films, but this is different.
First, while most Barbie movies so far have been computer-animated, this one stars Hollywood A-listers.
Secondly, it was filmed with a hefty budget of $145 million.
Couple that with marketing costs and you’re looking at an overall price tag of $300+ million.
That’s not peanuts, even by Warner Bros standards.
The film mainly stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, but they’re starring alongside a long list of familiar names.
Different variations of Barbie and Ken will be played by, among others, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu and John Cena.
Also, Will Ferrell stars as the CEO of Mattel, the company that makes the Barbie doll.
Barbie is expected to gross up to $125 million from 4,200 + theaters on its opening weekend.
AMC Theaters said they’ve already sold 40,000 AMC Stub tickets for both Barbie and Oppenheimer.
For reference, an AMC Stub ticket is a special ticket for AMC member that includes a few perks – and they cost more than a normal ticket.
The movie had its premiere at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles (the same place where Dead Reckoning premiered), following which 103 movie critics penned their reviews.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a rating of 89 percent.
What about Oppenheimer?
Same release date as Barbie, similar budget, but a completely different story.
Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist that helped develop the first nuclear weapon.
It stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty Oppenheimer.
It also stars Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Gary Oldman.
May the best movie win.
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