‘Barbie’ Surpasses ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ As 2023’s Highest-Grossing Domestic Film

both were scheduled to drop nationwide on Oct. 13, horror mega-producer Jason Blum decided to move up the film’s release to avoid any “Bad Blood” with Swift.“Look what you made me do,” tweeted Blum, 54, referencing one of Swift’s hits.

Though Labor Day is upon us domestically — and its somewhat equivalents in many overseas markets to mark the end of summer — the hits keep coming as holds this session were strong on the season’s leaders while a new entry surprised. To wit, and starting with the latter: Sony/Escape Artists’ The Equalizer 3 blazed to a $60.6M global start this weekend, to clock the franchise’s best opening ever. Of that, the $26.1M debut in 49 international box office markets was also a new record bow for the Denzel Washington-led series.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Christopher Nolan’s dark historical epic “Oppenheimer” has crossed another remarkable box office milestone with $850 million in global ticket sales. The movie, starring Cillian Murphy as the so-called “father of the atomic bomb,” has generated $311 million in North America and $542.7 million internationally to date. The film continues to crush expectations, especially for a somber, R-rated biographical historical drama that unfolds largely in dreary rooms of fast-talking scientists and politicians.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Few were expecting the bomb and the bombshell to save the summer box office. But thanks to the sky-high ticket sales for Greta Gerwig’s very pink “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s supremely dark “Oppenheimer,” domestic revenue hit $4 billion between May and August for the first time in the pandemic era.

Living in a Barbie world is getting better and better for Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Greta Getwig and the rest of the cast of the year’s biggest movie.

Variety said the receipts were boosted by showtimes in premium large format auditoriums, and the flick is on track for the second-highest Labor Day weekend opening in historyThe Post praised the movie stating that unlike the first two “dark” and “pathologically unpleasant” films, the third “lives up to the ever-deepening talent of its leading man.”The summer’s biggest blockbuster, “Barbie,” continued to pull in audience, netting $2.5 million Friday.

“Barbie” remains unstoppable at the box office, as the Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster continues to do brisk business in its seventh weekend of release.

The two seemingly unstoppable phenoms of summer 2023 are each setting new milestones this weekend as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie through Friday has become the No.1 film of the year globally, overtaking The Super Mario Bros Movie with $1.365B. In the same breath, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer this frame is continuing its incredible run with the Universal title set to pass $850M globally through Sunday. This will see it surpass the filmmaker’s 2010 Inception as his 3rd highest-grossing title ever worldwide.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Barbie” has conquered North America, and now, the world. Greta Gerwig’s fantasy-comedy has generated $1.36 billion at the global box office, overtaking Universal and Illumination’s animated adventure “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.35 billion globally) as the highest-grossing worldwide movie of the year.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor How much longer will the Oscars wait? That is, wait to embrace the quality and sheer brilliance of documentary filmmaking in a significant way, meaning nominating one in the best picture category? Matthew Heineman’s deeply moving “American Symphony,” which follows Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Jon Batiste as he prepares for his performance at Carnegie Hall, is yet another home run for the filmmaker behind “Cartel Land” and “City of Ghosts,” not to mention a singular love story. Batiste’s larger-than-life personality was on full display following the Telluride screening of the documentary, when he led a band down to the main street of Telluride.

Despite bad weather conditions, the crew of Warner Bros. series The Winchesters was instructed to keep filming. Shortly thereafter, lightning struck a crew member.

Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes have shined the spotlight on the relationship between laborers and corporations. If you want to watch programming with those themes, or if you want to kick back, relax and take your mind off of everything, there’s something for everyone. Here’s your essential guide for what to watch and stream.

Disney has hit back at claims by Charter Communications execs that the media company declined to pursue innovative carriage deals and instead just wanted to ram through price increases.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” brings style, swag and a whole lot of Barry Keoghan’s manhood to the award race. After having its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Thursday night, festivalgoers were in for a wild bonanza of colors, lights and one of the sexiest films to grace the big screen so far this year. Fennell’s previous film as a director, 2020’s “Promising Young Woman,” was a hit with Oscar voters, scoring five nominations, including one for best picture.

Naman Ramachandran The “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” phenomenon helped the U.K. and Ireland box office reach £104.8 million ($132 million) in August, per numbers from Comscore. While this is significantly lower than the heights of £160.7 million in July, it is 67% higher than August 2022 (£62.9 million).

Warner Bros’ Barbie ain’t missin’ no steps as the Greta Gerwig-directed title is clicking past the $600M mark at the domestic box office in its 43rd day of release.

If the debate a few years ago was the streaming glut age created an era of #TooMuchContent, we’ve got some good news for you: things are slowing down and the current SAG and WGA strikes likely aren’t helping. But the streaming age, and the Wall Street downturn that arrived last year have definitely caused a new epoch of disruption we’re still experiencing and aren’t sure where things will land.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Mexico’s foremost animation forum, Pixelatl, kicks off Sept. 5 in Guadalajara with an array of activities that includes screenings, conferences, panels, works-in-progress sessions, master classes and pitches amid a myriad of sections.

Barbie and Oppenheimer don’t live up to Russia’s values and shouldn’t be screened in the country, its Deputy Culture Minister has said.Andrei Malyshev rejected a request by vice-speaker of Russia’s parliament, Vladislav Davankov, who’d written to officials asking them to launch a pilot scheme where cinemas could show popular new releases.The TASS news agency [via Politico] reported yesterday (August 31) that Malyshev rejected the appeal based on his preferences for movies and which content he believes the Russian people value. The West has boycotted Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, meaning that new Western films are not currently shown in the country.Davankov had lobbied the Russian government to allow bootleg screenings despite the Hollywood embargo.Malyshev wrote: “We believe that the films you have proposed for viewing by the citizens of our country – Barbie and Oppenheimer – do not meet the aims and objectives set out by the head of state, to preserve and strengthen traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.”Instead, Malyshev believes that Russians get suitable entertainment and information from domestic productions including animated children’s film Cheburashka and The Challenge, a Russian state-backed film shot on the International Space Station.According to the minister, making up for the lack of foreign content in the wake of Western firms’ exit from the country has stimulated the country’s own industry.

It is possible that in his search for CNN’s next boss, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav simply checked back through the news network’s archives. 

Glen Powell teamed up with his “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Devotion” co-stars on Wednesday as they hit the picket lines outside Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California in support of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

The film festivals can always be counted on to deliver surprise hits at this time of year, but meanwhile Hollywood must deal with another issue: Its Barbitude hangover.

Max is adding an on-screen top 10 ranking of trending titles, joining Netflix and other streaming rivals that offer the feature.

The North American box office has been a challenge to track the past couple of years, first with movie theaters shuttering along with almost everything else due to the Covid pandemic, and then in 2023, just when thing were returning to normal, a pair of Hollywood strikes has further complicated studios’ release-date strategies.

A swarm of Supernatural fans joined the picket line at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles on Thursday to catch a glimpse of series creator Eric Kripke as well as the cast and other writers who had reunited in solidarity with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Barbie is set to land on streaming services very soon.Directed by Greta Gerwig, the fantasy comedy starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has become the highest-grossing film ever in Warner Bros. history. It’s also on track to beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the highest-grossing film of 2023 globally.While the film is largely defined by its two leads, it also boasts an impressive supporting cast, including America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Simu Liu and Will Ferrell.Barbie released on the same day (July 21) as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, creating the “Barbenheimer” phenomena which boosted both film’s at the box office.Barbie is set to be released digitally in the US on Tuesday September 5.

Barbenheimer — and she’s been having a wild few months.Barbara “Barbie” Oppenheimer has experienced an exciting summer amid the double-feature of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” that sparked a mashup obsession on the internet.The 68-year-old grandmother of five is owning her name, which has taken the world by storm.“The Barbenheimer craze has added some more fun to my already good life. It’s been great fun,” Oppenheimer told The Post.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Max, taking a page from Netflix, is giving subscribers insight into daily top-trending movies and TV shows on the platform. Warner Bros. Discovery launched the new Max top 10 lists on Thursday, beginning in the U.S.

The CW and Sinclair Broadcast Group have reached an affiliate renewal deal spanning 35 markets, including the launch of the broadcast network on stations in Seattle and Pittsburgh.

Mortal Kombat fighters are in a Mortal Kombat 11 trailer that reveals his long-time love for the abundantly bloody series.This is one of two promotional trailers that Bautista appears in for the forthcoming game. The other features the actor recruiting students, baristas, musicians and more to answer the call of “Mortal Kombat” in anticipation of the reboot.“Obviously, my voice is gone now from screaming ‘Mortal Kombat‘ all day,” said Bautista in the second trailer while playing the game, with shots from the sets of the first trailer.

Slate, Oppenheimer said that numerous people thought she was joking whenever she would say her name outloud.Recalling a specifically confusing moment during a recent vacation, she said: “When I checked in at the hotel, I said, ‘Barbie Oppenheimer!’ The guy said, ‘Are you pulling my leg?’”Oppenheimer said that she “had college friends around the world texting me that weekend when [the movies] came out, with the whole schmear, you know… ‘the bomb and the bombshell’.”“It’s pretty funny!” she said about the confusion. “It was a brilliant thing that they launched them [the films] together.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Production is under way on season two of “The Twelve,” a crime drama which follows a controversial murder trial as seen through the lens of the 12 jury members, ordinary members of the public with their own realities and struggles. On completion, it will screen on Foxtel’s Binge streaming service.

ongoing Writers Guild Of America (WGA) strike took place.Speaking on the newly launched Strike Force Five podcast on Spotify – featuring Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver – Kimmel spoke of his initial plans to retire from hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this year, though his perspective on the matter has since changed due to the ongoing writers’ strike.“I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started,” Kimmel said on the premiere episode of the Strike Force Five podcast. “And now, I realize, Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.”Seth Meyers quipped in response: “Kimmel, c’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night… you have feigned retirement.” However, Kimmel insisted that he was serious about retiring: “I was serious, I was very, very serious.”In early May, the WGA announced that it was going on strike; Hollywood’s first in 15 years.

Selena Gomez has deleted an Instagram post about Only Murders In The Building after being accused of breaking strike rules.The singer and actor appears in the recently-released third season of the Hulu/Disney+ show alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short.Earlier today (August 30), a post appeared on the singer’s official Instagram account which tagged the show’s official account. As part of SAG-AFTRA strike rules, members aren’t allowed to promote their work via interviews or social media posts.The post has now ben deleted, and it hasn’t been confirmed whether the post in question constituted rule-breaking, but some online have accused the post of being “tone deaf” amid the ongoing strikes.Following a break down in negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), the latter’s national board of directors voted unanimously on July 13 to join writers by going on strike.It will mark the first time in more than 60 years that actors and writers have gone on strike simultaneously.SAG-AFTRA – Hollywood’s largest union, which represents 160,000 actors and performers – and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are seeking an increase in base pay and residuals in the age of streaming, while other negotiations relate to safeguards against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence in the industry.The WGA strike, which began on May 2, occurred following unsuccessful negotiations with AMPTP, who represent major Hollywood studios like Netflix, Disney, Apple, Amazon, Paramount, Warner Bros.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid growing speculation of internal divisions within the C-suites and a lack of any apparent path forward to end the writers and actors strikes, the chiefs of Hollywood’s biggest studios are set to gather today.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer officially launched in China today, grossing an estimated $5.4M. Word of mouth is strong with the Universal title carrying a 9.5 on Maoyan, the platform’s best-ever audience score for a Nolan film. The Douban critics score at 8.7 is on par with 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. The weekend is shaping up to land in the $20M+ range, based on early estimates.