Barbie Is Coming To IMAX - Why You'll Want Tickets Even If You've Seen It Already
Thought everybody was over "Barbie?" Think again β Warner Bros. is giving the movie a re-release already on September 22, 2023. The rollout will last for one week, and here's why you'll want to grab tickets as soon as you can.
Now that "Oppenheimer" is clearing out of theaters as it approaches a home release, according to Deadline, they're making room for "Barbie" to be shown in IMAX for the first time. It's not even just that; audiences who show up to these IMAX screenings will get to see brand-new footage during and after the credits picked specifically by director Greta Gerwig.
In a statement obtained by the outlet, Gerwig said, "βThe worldwide enthusiasm for Barbie has been overwhelming, humbling and deeply moving. So many Barbie fans went on this journey with us, and we can't thank them enough for supporting the film and sharing their Barbie experience in theaters, across social media and out in the world. We made Barbie for the big screen, so it's a thrill to be able to bring it to Imax, the biggest screen of all. And as a special thanks to Barbie fans, we're excited to share a little bit more of our cast and crew's incredible work by adding special new footage we hope audiences will enjoy."
Barbie has become one of the biggest cinematic phenomenons of all time
As of this writing, "Barbie" is officially the highest-grossing movie of 2023 thus far, earning nearly $600 million at the domestic box office and over $1.3 billion internationally. After the movie's over-the-top yet delightful marketing bliss, this doesn't come as a complete surprise, but it's undeniable that Barbie-mania has swept the world this summer as people celebrate Gerwig's ambitious, delightfully subversive, and entirely too clever film.
That said, money is the bottom line here, so it's really not shocking that Warner Bros. wants to get the film back into theaters with a new draw. In that same Deadline article, Jeff Goldstein and Andrew Cripps β who handle domestic and international distribution, respectively β released a statement saying, "If there was one thing missing in this winning 'Barbie' strategy, it was being able to put Greta's singular vision on premium Imax screens over the uber-competitive summer corridor. That 'Barbie' continues to draw packed audiences around the world heading into its sixth weekend in release speaks to the quality of the film and the excitement audiences have for the story. Greta, Margot, Ryan and everyone involved in Barbie have not just captured, but held the attention of moviegoers everywhere, and we are so pleased to give them a chance to see 'Barbie,' whether for the first or fifth time, in such an experiential format as Imax."
Barbie will also be available to watch at home before too long
If you can't make it to a movie theater while "Barbie" has its week-long IMAX run but you still want to watch the movie for the first (or second, or third) time, fear not, as it'll likely be coming to VOD soon. WhenToStream recently reported that the movie will be available to rent or buy on demand on September 5, 2023, and thanks to the fact that it's a Warner Bros. production, it will likely be on Max at a certain point.
It's worth checking out "Barbie" in theaters if you can, though, and adding in an IMAX screen and brand-new footage is definitely a draw. The bottom line here is that "Barbie" is beloved not because it's based on a famous toy, but because it's crafted by two talented filmmakers, with Gerwig in the director's chair and her partner and fellow filmmaker Noah Baumbach riding shotgun as her co-screenwriter. From its practical and stunning production design to the uniformly winning performances to the razor-sharp direction and script, "Barbie" is a phenomenon for two big reasons: because it's a good movie, and because movies made by women and for women can absolutely succeed at the box office when they're given room to take big swings.