Barbie's Second Weekend At The Box Office Is The Biggest Ever For A Non-Franchise Film
The "Barbie" box office bonanza is showing few, if any, signs of slowing down, and now that the second weekend of its soon-to-be legendary theatrical run is on the books, the Margot Robbie-helmed film's list of broken records has gotten even longer.
Much has been made of how well "Barbie" has continued to do in its second week of release, and the $93 million domestic box office haul the movie pulled in for its second weekend (Friday-Sunday) is the best sophomore weekend ever for a non-franchise movie. The news comes after "Barbie" shattered another major box office record previously held by "The Dark Knight," which, of course, is a sequel.
Every movie that ever grossed more than "Barbie" in its second weekend was part of expansive feature film series. Movies like "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with $149 million, "Avengers: Endgame" with $147 million, "Avengers: Infinity War" with $114 million, "Black Panther" with $111 million, "Jurassic World" with $106 million, and "The Avengers" with $103 million are the only ones to have better second weekends than "Barbie," and each one benefitted from other movies leading into them in a way that "Barbie" has not, making its second weekend gross all the more impressive.
Barbie has pulled in $351 million in North America so far
The above figures are all for theaters in North American markets, where "Barbie" has earned a total of $351 million and counting, the fourth-highest movie gross of the year behind "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." It will climb even higher in the standings as its theatrical run continues.
It's also worth noting that when you look at global box office figures, the "Barbie" phenomenon is even bigger. Its worldwide gross of $774 million and counting makes it the third-highest release of the year so far, coming in behind "Super Mario Bros." and "GotG 3."
While "Barbie" is not part of an existing feature film franchise, it's almost certainly going to establish one, since box office success like this virtually always invites a follow-up. "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig may not be ready to start thinking about a sequel, the executives at Mattel and Warner Bros. are already thinking about where to take the franchise next.