Barbie Had 2023's Best Opening Day and It Might Break More Records
"Barbie" had the most lucrative opening day of 2023, earning over $70 million at the box office.
The movie is on track to be one of 2023's largest opening weekends by Sunday.
"Barbie" could also break records for the largest opening weekend for a woman-directed movie.
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Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie has already set records for the highest-grossing opening day of 2023. Now, it might be on track to set the record for the largest opening weekend ever by a woman-directed movie, Variety reports.
Between Thursday selling the most preview tickets of 2023 — over $22 million — and Friday's sales of nearly $50 million, according to Variety, the movie quickly outpaced the opening day record of just over $51 million set by "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse."
Previous estimates from Forbes suggest "Barbie" will make about $110 million on its opening weekend — a goal the movie is now more than halfway to reaching from Friday's sales alone. If "Barbie" does hit the $110 million mark, it will be the fifth largest release of the year, behind the opening weekends of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which made $146 million; "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse," which made $120.5 million; Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which made $118.4 million; and Disney's "The Little Mermaid," which made about $118 million, over the long Memorial Day weekend, according to Forbes.
But, more impressively, it will become the most lucrative weekend opening from a female director, a record previously held by Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," which clocked in at $100.5 million in opening weekend earnings.
The numbers will be a massive achievement for Gerwig, who, in an interview with The Guardian in early July, was full of anxious anticipation for the film's release.
"I'm just so nervous. I'm so nervous. I'm excited! But I'm so nervous," Gerwig said to the outlet. "I just can't believe, like, here it is… Let's go!"
Source: Insider
