Barbie rules the worldwide box office with $337 million opening weekend gross
Last updated: 23 July 2023
Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbit and Ryan Gosling, raked in a humungous $337 million at the worldwide box office in its opening weekend. The comedy-drama, which was met with favourable reviews from critics and audiences, registered the second highest opening of the year after The Super Mario Bros Movie, which earned $377 million. Barbie also topped the North American box office weekend chart with $155 million.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy in the titular role, grossed $174.15 million in its opening weekend. Released alongside Barbie in a clash referred to as Barbenheimer, the R-rated biographical drama, also starring Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh, released to positive reviews from critics and is the second highest-grossing film in North America over the weekend with $80.5 million.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One registered a drop of 65% in its second weekend, earning $74.5 million for a worldwide total of $370.85 million. The action-thriller is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and stars Tom Cruise reprising his role as Ethan Hunt, Hayley Atwell in her Mission Impossible debut, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby – all of them reprising her roles from previous Mission Impossible films along with Esai Morales, playing the antagonist. In the film, Hunt races against time to find a mysterious “key” before it is found by The Entity, a powerful rogue AI (Esai Morales).
Chinese epic film Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, the first instalment in the Fengshen trilogy directed by ethnic Mongol director Wuershan, based on Xu Zhonglin’s 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods, grossed $42.54 million in its opening weekend for a total of $53.53 million. The cast includes Fei Xiang, Li Xuejian, Huang Bo, Yu Yosh, Luke Chen, Na Ran, Ci Sha, Xia Yu, Chen Kun, Yuan Quan and Eric Yang Le.
Chinese animated action-adventure Chang An San Wan Li, directed by Junwei Xie and Jing Zou, is the fourth highest-grossing film over the weekend with $40.36 million, taking its tally to $165.35 million.
Chinese film Advancing of ZQ, directed by Yang Song and Song Yang, grossed $31.24 million in its opening weekend. The film, starring Ai Lun, Shen Teng, Tao Hui, Zhang Qi, Han Yanbo and Polina, is remake of Russian movie Super Bobrovs (2016) and follows a family who are exposed to a meteorite and accidentally gain superpowers.
Pixar’s Elemental, directed by Peter Sohn, earned $24.1 million in its sixth weekend. The animated romantic comedy-drama, made with an estimated budget of $200 million, has grossed $356.63 million so far and is on the verge of emerging as a sleeper hit following a lukewarm opening week.
Chinese drama Never Say Never, directed by and starring Wang Bao Qiang, grossed $20.55 million in its third weekend for a total of $255.74 million. The film is yet to release outside China.
Sound of Freedom, directed by Alejandro Monteverde, starring Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, and Bill Camp earned an impressive $20.14 million in its third weekend. The action film, which released on 4 July, has grossed $124.74 million so far against an estimated $15 million budget, emerging as a jackpot for its distributor Angel Studios. Sound of Freedom follows Jim Caviezel, playing a former government agent, who embarks on a mission to save children from a sex trafficking ring in Columbia.
Insidious: The Red Door, directed by and starring Patrick Wilson in his directorial debut, Rose Byrne and Ty Simpkins grossed $18.5 million in its third weekend. Made with an estimated budget of $20 million, the fifth and final instalment in the Insidious horror franchise released to mixed reviews but has grossed $155.8 million and is a profitable venture for its distributor Sony Pictures.
Note: The above box office data is consolidated and supplied by ComScore.
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