The streaming service premiered one of the most anticipated films of the year, Barbie. The movie about how a doll explores the real world made a splash.
In just four weeks of its release, Barbie grossed a record amount of money, which allowed the film to win the title of Warner Bros.’ Most Successful Movie. Who did it take that title from? From the superhero Aquaman. That’s how women are.
So what kind of movie is it that has become one of the most discussed in the world?
What is the movie “Barbie” about?
Barbie lives in Barbieland, where every day is a holiday. But one day, strange things start happening to her, and she even thinks about death. To regain her peace of mind, the doll goes to the real world to find her owner. Because it is her experiences that make Barbie feel strange. Ken hides in the girl’s car and finds himself in the world of people too. Barbie is excited about this journey, which changes her perception of herself. And Ken, fascinated by the ideas of patriarchy, returns to Barbieland, where he seizes power. So Barbie has to put her house in order, and also her soul.
Movie records and bans
💰”Barbie” became the highest-grossing film of 2023 with $1.38 billion, overtaking “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.359 billion). The film’s budget, according to various sources, is up to $145 million. The first weekend brought in $162 million, which means that the first weekend covered the production costs. And the billion was earned in 17 days.
The movie broke many opening weekend records:
💰Record for the highest-grossing comedy with actors, previously held by The Hangover Part II ($85.9 million),
💰The record for the highest-grossing non-sequel, which was held by The Hunger Games ($152.5 million),
💰The record for the opening weekend for a film directed by a woman – previously it was Captain Marvel ($153 million),
💰The record for a movie based on toys, which was set by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” ($108.9 million).
And that’s not all
💰The film also broke the Monday record – on its first Monday in theaters, it earned $26.1 million – the previous record holder, The Dark Knight, earned $24.5 million.
💰Greta Gerwig is currently the only female director to have a film cross the $1 billion mark. Before that, the “female” record belonged to Patty Jenkins with Wonder Woman ($822.9 million). The box office receipts allowed Barbie to become the first most profitable project of Warner Bros. studio, before that the leader was the last part of Harry Potter with $1.34 billion.
🏆The film won the Most Anticipated Movie nomination from the Hollywood Critics Circle and the Best Teaser Award at the Golden Trailer Awards.
🤯And this is despite bans in some countries. In Vietnam, it was banned because of a scene with a map showing disputed territories in the South China Sea. The film was also not shown in several Muslim countries, such as Kuwait and Lebanon. In Algeria, the movie was stopped after 2 weeks because of “scenes intended for an adult audience” and hints of homosexuality. The Russian Ministry of Culture officially stated that Barbie does not meet the goals and objectives of preserving Russian spiritual and moral values.
❤️This is a movie about the fact that everyone can be anyone. The director Greta Gerwig admitted that there is one scene that she really likes and that she did not agree to cut, even though it was not important to the plot. What is that scene? When Barbie passes an elderly woman on a bench and stops to tell her that she is beautiful. According to the director, this is the “heart of the movie”.
Incredible facts about Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Barbieland
💟Barbieland was built in real size. It was a kingdom of pink. The director even joked (or not) that the creators caused a real shortage of pink in the world.
💟Disproportionate scale – when Barbie looks too big compared to other things – is a reference to Barbie sets.
💟Margo Robbie immediately fell in love with the script, although she did not believe that the story would become a hit. And she was amazed when the trailer became extremely popular. According to rumors, the actress received $50 million for the role, including salary and bonuses. By the way, in the movie Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood” Margot Robbie played Sharon Tate, whose image in “Make No Waves” became the inspiration for the iconic Malibu Barbie.
💟 The movie stars the daughter of Barbie’s inventor. However, she had a cameo role.
🍋According to Ryan Gosling, he decided to act in the film after seeing his daughter’s Ken doll lying in the mud next to a crushed lemon. The actor took a picture of the doll and the lemon and sent it to Greta Gerwig with the text: “I’ll be your Ken, his story needs to be told.”
🎶Composer Mark Ronson wrote the song I’m Just Ken as a joke. However, the director and actor liked the track. Ronson later noted that he was impressed by how much Gosling’s interpretation of the song improved it.
📋Margo Robbie said that while working on the film, she found an old to-do list. And one of the goals was to meet Gosling. So you can definitely check it off.
💪By the way, Margot Robbie turned out to be cooler than Gosling. They were actively involved in sports before filming. And the actress was able to hold the bar for 4 min. 10 seconds, and the guy – 3 min. 2 sec.
