Barbie Is Already The Third Biggest Movie Of The Year At The Box Office (And It Could Be The Biggest)

Warner Bros. is looking awfully brilliant right now for allowing director Greta Gerwig to make a PG-13, offbeat take on "Barbie" with a blockbuster-sized budget. In partnership with Mattel, they have made one of the year's biggest movies. And, before long, it may stand alone as the biggest of 2023 at the box office. After its ridiculously impressive second weekend in theaters, the film is already the third highest-grossing movie of the year, and it has a lot of room left to run.

"Barbie" added $93 million domestically to its ever-growing total in weekend two, dropping just 43% compared to its record-breaking first weekend. Coupled with another monster weekend overseas, Gerwig's latest has now earned $774.5 million worldwide, putting it behind only "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" ($844.8 million) and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" ($1.35 billion) in terms of 2023 movies at the global box office. It will pass "Guardians" any day now. Then the only thing standing between Margot Robbie's take on the beloved doll and total box office dominance is Nintendo's famed plumber. Let the games begin.

Against a reported $145 million production budget, even if the film didn't make another dime, it would already be a resounding success. But the fact that the adaptation of the classic toy still has a lot of room to run is remarkable. Even more impressive is the fact that all of this has happened as Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" has also been in theaters alongside "Barbie," representing hugely high-profile competition. Yet, both movies have managed to find a huge audience, as "Oppenheimer" finished number two over the weekend, adding $46.2 million. It's one of the most impressive box office showdowns in history mainly because both films are winning so big.

The big question now is whether or not "Barbie" has enough gas in the tank to overtake "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" globally. Universal and Illumination struck gold earlier this year with the animated take on the Nintendo video game series. For what it's worth, "Barbie" is currently pacing ahead of "Mario" at this point in their respective theatrical runs. "Mario" had notched just over $700 million worldwide after its second weekend, but it also only had a 37% drop, representing a better hold. The deciding factor will be whether or not competition forces a bigger drop for "Barbie" in the coming weeks.

For now, that hasn't really hasn't been an issue at all. Disney's "Haunted Mansion" had a disastrous start, taking in just $24.2 million this past weekend, debuting in third place on the charts. So that certainly isn't going to cause any issues. This week, meanwhile, we have "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" opening mid-week, with "Meg 2: The Trench" serving as the weekend's other big new release. Will either of them have enough juice to claim the throne? Probably not, as they will likely have to settle for second and third place, respectively.

Still, the competition could split moviegoers a bit. But things are relatively quiet in August, giving this doll plenty of room to run. Vegas odds would probably tell you to bet on her running all the way to the number one spot when all's said and done.