Barbie Dominates the Box Office for Fourth Consecutive Week with $33.7 Million

The unstoppable momentum of “Barbie” continues as Director Greta Gerwig’s cinematic masterpiece maintains its stranglehold on the top spot at the box office for the fourth consecutive week, raking in an impressive $33.7 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The Warner Bros. production, led and produced by the talented Margot Robbie, still enchants audiences across 4,137 theaters. Defying the usual trend of declining revenues, “Barbie” has crossed the $500 million mark in North America, and just one week after achieving the remarkable milestone of $1 billion in global earnings, it solidifies its position as the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman.

The second installment of the dynamic “Barbenheimer” duo, “Oppenheimer,” also made a strong comeback in its fourth week, climbing to the second spot after a brief stint at number three. Helmed by the renowned Christopher Nolan and distributed by Universal Pictures, “Oppenheimer” amassed $18.8 million from 3,761 theaters, bringing its domestic total to an impressive $264.3 million.

The competition in the box office landscape remained relatively subdued. The most prominent new release of the week, Universal’s “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” secured fifth place with an opening weekend revenue of $6.5 million.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” now in its second week, maintained its grip on third place, accumulating $15.6 million domestically. Meanwhile, the sequel to the Jason Statham-led shark thriller, “Meg 2: The Trench,” garnered $12.7 million in its second week, sliding from the second to the fifth position.

The trajectory of “Barbie” points toward its impending status as the top film of 2023. With a domestic total of $526.3 million and a staggering global haul of $1.18 billion, it currently ranks second only to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which earned $574.2 million in North America and a whopping $1.358 billion worldwide during the spring season. Furthermore, “Barbie” has etched its name as the second-highest grossing film in the storied history of Warner Bros., trailing solely behind 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

The remarkable consistency exhibited by the Mattel-inspired movie serves as a counterpoint to what was initially shaping up to be a lackluster year for theaters. Even in the face of underperforming major sequels such as “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” which held onto spots in the top 10 with earnings of $4.7 million this week, “Barbie” continues to captivate audiences.

“‘Barbie’ remains as scintillating as ever, firmly securing its position at the apex. Its dominance shows no signs of waning,” remarked Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “Simultaneously, ‘Oppenheimer’ keeps stride with it. They’re inextricably linked in this exhilarating box office race, akin to a high-speed NASCAR event.”

The midsummer release of “Barbenheimer” has propelled the overall summer earnings of the film industry ahead of the corresponding period in 2022, a stark improvement from just a month ago.

Reflecting on the collective impact of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” Dergarabedian marveled, “The contribution of these two films to the box office figures is truly staggering.”

As the summer season progresses, the combined earnings of all movies have amounted to an impressive $3.63 billion in North America. With several significant releases still slated for August, including DC Comics’ “Blue Beetle,” the adaptation of the popular video game “Gran Turismo,” and the highly anticipated sequel “The Equalizer 3” starring Denzel Washington, there remains a strong possibility of the box office crossing the $4 billion threshold—a benchmark considered indicative of a robust summer, reminiscent of the pre-pandemic era.