Barbie, the feminist film directed by Greta Gerwig, continues to soar at the box office, surpassing $500 million in domestic earnings this weekend. According to multiple news outlets, the film earned an additional $33.7 million, solidifying its position as one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. Alongside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, Barbie has had a dominant summer run.
Barbie held the number one spot at the box office this weekend, earning a total of $526.3 million domestically. This achievement places the film among the top 10 largest fourth weekends in history. Oppenheimer, on the other hand, secured the second-highest grossing position, bringing its total domestic earnings to $264 million and its global box office pull to $649 million. This makes Oppenheimer the fifth-largest film in Christopher Nolan's repertoire, following The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem earned $15.8 million this weekend, while Meg 2: The Trench fell to fourth place with $12.7 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $54.1 million.
Two new films also debuted this weekend. Last Voyage of Demeter, a Dracula film with a $45 million budget, earned $6.5 million. Disney's Haunted Mansion, which premiered amidst an ongoing actor's strike, earned $5.6 million.
Barbie is on track to surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the highest-earning film of the year in terms of U.S. sales. It only needs an additional $48 million to claim the top spot.
In addition to its box office success, Barbie has propelled Greta Gerwig to become the highest-grossing female director of all time domestically, surpassing Frozen II. Gerwig has also become the highest-grossing female director of a live-action movie worldwide, surpassing Captain Marvel. She is the first solo female director to have a movie that earned more than $1 billion globally.
Barbie's success has resulted in plans for more toy-inspired movies from Mattel, with at least 14 in the works. Lily Collins is set to star in and produce a "Polly Pocket" movie directed by Lena Dunham, and Daniel Kaluuya is slated to produce a "Barney" film.
The popularity of Barbie extends beyond the movie theater, with searches for the name "Barbie" as a potential baby name increasing by 603%, and searches for "Ken" up by 293%.
With its record-breaking achievements and continued success, Barbie has solidified its status as the summer's blockbuster film.