One of the biggest mysteries of this year’s summer movie slate is how well Greta Gerwig’s $100 million “Barbie” will do at the box-office.
We know there’s a fanbase of kiddies for the Mattel doll, but is the movie even aimed at them? With Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach at the helm, and based off the recent test-screenings, I’m willing to bet this will be an incredibly meta and feminist take on Barbie.
It doesn’t help that Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” opens the same week as “Barbie” and, although it’s aimed at a totally different demographic, a rivalry between both fanbases has already emerged on social media.
The box-office gurus over at The Numbers have their 2023 box-office market preview up and their early projections for the July-released “Barbie” have it opening at around $31 million on opening weekend.
The top two potential breakout hits this month are familiar names at this point. Barbie and Wonka both fall into the category of films that aren’t obvious tentpoles (at least as far as our model is concerned), but could by excellent earners. They’ve both been garnering excellent audience interest given how long it is until their release.
In case you’re wondering, they have “Wonka” opening at $26 million in December.
Back when the trailer was released last December, an onslaught of media hype commenced for Gerwig’s film. BuzzFeed proclaimed the trailer is proof that “Barbie” is the next blockbuster by using tweets from random people to pump their theory forward. Article after article was hyping up Gerwig’s film, with even Yahoo claiming it could “launch a franchise to compete with” Cameron’s ‘Avatar.’
Gerwig’s “Barbie” will be released in theaters on July 21st, 2023.
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