Barbie | July 21, 2023 | Warner Bros | Margot Robbie is Barbie. Ryan Gosling is Ken. | Second most profitable movie of 2023

[Noctis]

3 hours ago, Ryan Reynolds said:

 

 

 

 

Amazing. With her being a producer, she might make somewhere close to $100m? Insane but well deserved.

[Mojoguy]

Banned in Kuwait, ‘Barbie’ Sparks Delight, and Anger, in Saudi Arabia

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/world/middleeast/barbie-movie-saudi-arabia.html

 

Denounced in some Middle Eastern countries for undermining traditional gender norms, the hit movie is finding an audience in Saudi Arabia, illustrating the region’s shifting political landscape.

 

 

On Friday night, Mohammed al-Sayed donned a pale pink shirt and denim overalls to join a friend at a movie theater in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where the men settled in to watch a film about a doll on a mission to dismantle the patriarchy.

 

Similar scenes played out across the conservative Islamic kingdom last weekend, as women painted their nails pink, tied pink bows in their hair and draped pink floor-length abayas over their shoulders for the regional debut of the movie, “Barbie.” While critics across the Middle East have called for the film to be banned for undermining traditional gender norms, many Saudis ignored them.

 

They watched as the movie imagined a matriarchal society of Barbie dolls where men are eye candy. They laughed when a male character asked...

 

 

[dudalb]

On 8/14/2023 at 4:01 PM, Noctis said:

 

Amazing. With her being a producer, she might make somewhere close to $100m? Insane but well deserved.

Well, she never has to do another "Paycheck" movie again.

Pretty sure the 50 Million includes everything she makes from the film, including what she makes from being a producer.

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by dudalb

[Mojoguy]

 

[Mojoguy]

Barbie 4k cover art

 

 

https://www.hdmoviesource.com/Barbie-4K-Ultra-HD-p/15104.htm

[MovieMan89]

In one film, Margot went from just shy of being branded box office poison, to maybe the biggest payout to an actress for a movie ever?  

[Mojoguy]

13 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

In one film, Margot went from just shy of being branded box office poison, to maybe the biggest payout to an actress for a movie ever?  

Outside of Harley Quinn, Robbie seems more interested in doing prestigious movies, even if she has the looks and acting talent to have her choice of blockbuster roles.

 

Sometimes dramas flop, like Amsterdam and Babylon which was never going to do well even with another actress.

[MovieMan89]

Just now, Mojoguy said:

Outside of Harley Quinn, Robbie seems more interested in doing prestigious movies, even if she has the looks and acting talent to have her choice of blockbuster roles.

 

Sometimes dramas flop, like Amsterdam and Babylon which was never going to do well even with another actress.

I don’t wanna rehash this argument much since there seems to be some revisionist history going on lately, but she was most definitely on the cusp of the box office poison label before this. Many were throwing it around with her, and it wasn’t entirely unjustified either considering a movie that made the main draw the Joker seemed to be her only bonafide hit since her Wolf breakout… and then it was immediately a flop once said franchise had to rely on her as the main draw. 
 

Regardless, this rapid 180 in star power is stunning. 

[ChipDerby]

I'd say Margot is and has been a specific box office draw, like most A listers these days. They're draws in certain roles. 

[Mojoguy]

Well only 2 movies with Robbie in them has made over $400M WW, the first Suicide Squad and now Barbie. But she hasn't really signed up for any real big IP brand movies outside of Harley Quinn, Tarzan, and now Barbie.

 

You only need one massive hit to be back on top after a string of disappointments. It helps that Amsterdam and Babylon have mostly been forgotten.

 

I wouldn't say people rushed to see Barbie because her name was on the poster, but as producer Robbie was a big reason Barbie was a hit. Like convincing WB to get it made, and picking the right talent like Greta Gerwig as director/writer. Also absolutely no one saw Barbenheimer phenomenon coming. That was huge.

 

This movie could have easily been another flop Battleship movie. Good thing it wasn't. 

[filmlover]

What's interesting about Robbie is that even though she'll have been a notable name for about a decade by the end of the year (her breakout turn in The Wolf of Wall Street turns 10 in December), she hasn't had that many star vehicles that one could say are a real test to her star power. Her turns as Harley Quinn were sold more on the DC brand, and a lot of movies where she was prominently featured (Focus, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, even bombs Amsterdam and Babylon) paired her up with much bigger names who have been established stars far longer. Then there's movies like I, Tonya and Bombshell that were made with no box office aspirations whatsoever. 

 

Barbie is the closest we've had to A Margot Robbie Vehicle yet given how much of the excitement for the project was attributed to her casting as the character and the images of her in the costumes from the very beginning. She's definitely passed that test and is not only getting a sweet deal out of this, but is now forever an A-lister IMO.

[eddyxx]

58 minutes ago, ChipDerby said:

I'd say Margot is and has been a specific box office draw, like most A listers these days. They're draws in certain roles. 

Yup. Barbie is the perfect role for her. Like RDJ as Iron Man who hasn’t had any hits other than MCU and Sherlock  til Oppenheimer.

[Mojoguy]

Deadline put up an article about the history of the Barbie movie and the efforts to get it made

 

https://deadline.com/2023/07/barbie-box-office-success-margot-robbie-greta-gerwig-1235446062/

Edited August 17, 2023 by Mojoguy

[JustLurking]

7 hours ago, MovieMan89 said:

I don’t wanna rehash this argument much since there seems to be some revisionist history going on lately, but she was most definitely on the cusp of the box office poison label before this. Many were throwing it around with her, and it wasn’t entirely unjustified either considering a movie that made the main draw the Joker seemed to be her only bonafide hit since her Wolf breakout… and then it was immediately a flop once said franchise had to rely on her as the main draw. 
 

Regardless, this rapid 180 in star power is stunning. 

I don't understand why you keep doubling down on this suicide squad take, it is you who's doing the revisionism, I don't get if you just weren't around during suicide squad but her character had a lot of hype and was pretty front and center in marketing

 

not to say the Joker wasn't A draw but you seem to be seriously hell-bent on claiming he was the "main draw" which simply is not true, and there is a reason why harley has kept coming back (even if suicide squad being as terrible as it was basically poisoned the well for all future installments), the character was not just very hyped but also loved in spite of being trapped in a shit film

 

not to say she hasn't had her share of underperformers or flops (like mary queen of scots or whatever the fuck terminal was), but for the most part Robbie has done ensembles, and the last drama that was sold entirely on her name, iirc, did decent (tonya).

 

The narrative push against Robbie feels really weird, as I don't see anyone saying Bale is box office poison for amsterdam or Pitt is box office poison for babylon, but somehow these get really leveraged when it comes to her. She may not be a major draw in a vacuum, sure (very few actors are nowadays anyway), but "poison" she never was.

Edited August 17, 2023 by JustLurking

[Hatebox]

I subscribe to the school of thought that says there are no movie stars anymore. This is akin to Robbie starting a SH smash and then her next few films doing just ok. 
 

And that’s fine. It’s the new reality of Hollywood. People want characters and concepts more than stars.

[ListenHunnyUrOver]

13 minutes ago, Hatebox said:

I subscribe to the school of thought that says there are no movie stars anymore. This is akin to Robbie starting a SH smash and then her next few films doing just ok. 
 

And that’s fine. It’s the new reality of Hollywood. People want characters and concepts more than stars.

There are still movie stars, they just don’t have nearly the same power they once did. 

[CoolioD1]

Margot Robbie probably is the biggest movie star whose come up in the last ten years just in terms of being recognisable and people knowing her name. They're just not drawing as hard, she's not going to add interest where there is none as with Amsterdam and Babylon but can be a boost for an already appealing project. I think this movie would be making less with someone else in the main part.

[Mojoguy]

So if Barbie reaches $650M DOM does it mean it has outsold TGM DOM in terms of tickets sold with how many TGM tickets were IMAX?

[vale9001]

3 hours ago, Mojoguy said:

So if Barbie reaches $650M DOM does it mean it has outsold TGM DOM in terms of tickets sold with how many TGM tickets were IMAX?

TGM i don't know but Avatar 2 definitely 

[vale9001]

 movies like Babylon or Amsterdam were full of stars.

I can understand maybe for Babylon cause the only other star is Pitt but Amsterdam was so full of stars i don't know how can became something in a discourse "It's Margot Robbie flop or Is a Christian Bale flop". A problem for a movie like that can be there are too much stars you're not able to sell a precise story or a precise character and the movie just seems confusing and with appeal for no One.

If you put Julia Roberts on Amsterdam you got a flop anyways, if you put Julia Roberts on a rom com you make the Money. So It's there you see the star power.

Cruise on Top Gun. Cruise on Babylon?. Same money as Pitt lol.