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Barbie<\/em>\u2018s historic opening weekend at the box office proves we\u2019re all living in Barbieland.<\/p>\n The film, which opened on Friday, July 21, raked in an estimated $155 million at the domestic box office on opening weekend. That\u2019s far beyond the Margot Robbie<\/strong><\/a>-led movie\u2019s projections, which were between $90 million and $110 million. Barbie<\/em> nearly doubled the opening weekend box office of Oppenheimer<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n Christopher Nolan\u2019s three-hour drama about the atomic bomb brought in an estimated $80 million. The period film, starring Cillian Murphy<\/strong><\/a>, Emily Blunt<\/strong><\/a>, Robert Downey Jr.<\/strong><\/a> and Matt Damon<\/strong><\/a>, also surpassed expectations and was even part of a double-feature for many. AMC reported last week that more than 20,000 moviegoers pre-ordered same-day tickets to see both Barbie<\/em> and Oppenheimer<\/em> \u2014 a phenomenon nicknamed Barbenheimer<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Barbie<\/em> raked in the big bucks, she also broke some big records. The Greta Gerwig<\/strong><\/a>-directed film marks the biggest box office opening ever for a movie directed by a woman. She dethroned Patty Jenkins<\/strong>, who previously held the solo crown after Wonder Woman<\/em> debuted to $103.3 million. Meanwhile, Anna Boden<\/strong> held the title for co-directing after 2019\u2019s Captain Marvel<\/em>, which she helmed with Ryan Fleck<\/strong>,\u00a0opened to $153 million.<\/p>\n Barbie<\/em> is officially the biggest opening weekend of the year, knocking The Super Mario Bros. Movie<\/em> out of the top spot. The Mattel movie also had a bigger weekend than all of this year\u2019s Marvel movies, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3<\/em> and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania<\/em>. (Sony\u2019s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse<\/em> is the top superhero opening of 2023 with $120 million.)<\/p>\n The movie \u2014 which follows Barbie into the real world as she struggles to figure out who is playing with her and giving her thoughts of existential dread \u2014 is also the biggest three-day opening for a movie based on a toy, surpassing all Transformers<\/em> movies.<\/p>\n Though they are no strangers to huge studio films, Barbie marks the biggest opening weekend ever for both Robbie, 33, and Ryan Gosling<\/strong><\/a>, who play Barbie and Ken. (Barbie<\/em> also stars America Ferrara<\/strong><\/a>, Simu Liu<\/strong><\/a>, Michael Cera<\/strong><\/a>, Ariana Greenblatt<\/strong>, Will Ferrell<\/strong><\/a> and Kate McKinnon<\/strong><\/a>.)<\/p>\n In addition to the $155 million at the domestic box office, Barbie<\/em> is expected to pull in another $182 million internationally. Still, the movie has a ways to go at the box office to live up to Robbie\u2019s big promises.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I told them that it\u2019d make a billion dollars, which maybe I was overselling, but we had a movie to make, OK?\u201d Robbie told Collider<\/em><\/a> of convincing Mattel and Warner Bros. to both approve the script and give her and Gerwig creative control over the film. In addition to starring as the doll<\/a>, her company, Lucky Chap Entertainment, produced the film and Robbie is an executive producer while Gerwig directed the film from a script she penned with husband and creative partner Noah Baumbach<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cStudios have prospered so much when they\u2019re brave enough to pair a big idea with a visionary director,\u201d the Australian actress continued in the interview, which was conducted ahead of the SAG-AFTRA strike. \u201cAnd then I gave a series of examples like, \u2018Dinosaurs and [Steven<\/strong>] Spielberg<\/strong><\/a>\u2018 \u2013 pretty much naming anything that\u2019s been incredible and made a ton of money for the studios over the years. And I was like, \u2018And now you\u2019ve got Barbie and Greta Gerwig.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n Margot Robbie as Barbie in \u2018Barbie.\u2019<\/span> Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n