Summary
- Barbie's adaptation by Greta Gerwig crossed the billion-dollar mark, making it the second film in 2023 to achieve this milestone.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles underperformed in theaters, landing in fourth place with only $28 million in earnings.
- Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's film, unexpectedly surpassed Mutant Mayhem and took the third place spot at the box office.
Barbie’s officially a billionaire at the box office. Filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the famous Mattel doll crossed the coveted billion-dollar mark over the weekend, and the movie once again reigned supreme for the third week in a row, with a total of $53 million in the United States (per Box Office Mojo).
While it's not a surprise that Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s adventures in Barbieland reached No. 1 again, the remaining Top 5 was loaded with unexpected twists and turns. First and foremost, it turns out that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem got bogged down and couldn't find its way out of the sewer.
Mutant Mayhem was projected to make anywhere from $30 million and $40 million over the weekend, but the half-shelled heroes severely underperformed in theaters. The latest installment in the TMNT franchise only managed to make $28 million. And that landed the movie not in second place, not even third place, but fourth overall! Turns out, it wasn’t Meg 2: The Trench that was destined to sink during its opening, but rather it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Barbie crosses the $1-billion mark
Barbie crushed it in the United States, but Greta Gerwig’s film continues to impress overseas, too. In fact, Barbie is only the second big-screen venture in 2023 to eclipse $1 billion worldwide. The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened back in April, and the video game-inspired adventure currently sits at $1.4 billion for the year. While Barbie basked in all its bright-pink success, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem got stuck in their own ooze. And after only posting $28 million, Meg 2: The Trench turned out to be the big surprise over the weekend. Forecast to do about $25 million in the U.S., Meg 2 actually made $30 million and took the No. 2 spot behind Barbie.
After finishing in second place, over the last two weeks, Oppenheimer fell to No. 3 with $28.7 million. But Christopher Nolan’s historical drama dropped a serious bomb on Mutant Mayhem to keep the newcomer out of the Top 3. The signs that Oppenheimer might outperform TMNT showed up on Thursday, August 3 when Nolan’s picture won the day and not Mutant Mayhem. That Friday, things shifted and seemed to be shaping up as expected with Meg 2 and Mutant Mayhem in a dogfight for the second and third-place finishes behind Barbie.
But Oppenheimer came out of nowhere on Saturday and Sunday. Nolan’s film actually finished in second place on both of those days with $11.2 million on Saturday and $9.2 million on Sunday. Meanwhile, Haunted Mansion dropped another horrifying 62.7% compared to its last week, but the Disney film still managed to take the No. 5 spot with $9 million.
But Barbie remains the headline maker at the 2023 summer box office. There’s never been a Warner Bros. movie make so much money so quickly. And, as a result, Gerwig has become the first female director to helm a billion-dollar film. Turns out, the news was just the icing on the cake as Gerwig surely celebrated the historic milestone, while enjoying her 40th birthday to kick off the weekend on August 4.