Yahoo Finance 'Barbie' tops 'Super Mario Bros. Movie' as highest-grossing film of 2023
Mattel (MAT) and Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) "Barbie" has officially nabbed the title of highest-grossing movie of 2023, topping Universal's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" according to the latest studio estimates released on Thursday.
"Barbie" has now grossed $575.4 million in domestic ticket sales compared to "Mario’s" $574.2 million domestic total. The film snatched the No.1 title at a far faster pace than its predecessor — just 35 days after its release compared to the 138 days it took "Mario" to reach its $574 million benchmark.
"Barbie," which has relied on a heavy marketing push to drum up anticipation, surpassed the coveted $1 billion mark at the global box office earlier this month. The film has a current global box office total of $1.3 billion and is expected to surpass the $1.35 billion "Mario" made in time.
This makes director Greta Gerwig the first woman to solely direct a $1 billion dollar movie.
"It's an incredible milestone for 'Barbie,' and a giant win for the box office as a whole," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro, told Yahoo Finance. "Combined with 'Oppenheimer,' those two films and a variety of counter-programmers lifted the late summer theatrical market to levels that have rivaled pre-pandemic results at times."
Summer box office sales are up 16% compared to 2022, though overall ticket sales are off more than 5% versus 2019, according to the latest estimates from Comscore.
Films like Disney's "Elemental" and Warner Bros.' "The Flash" struggled to secure ticket sales earlier this summer, while the hyped-up live-action "Little Mermaid" fell short of expectations.
"This summer has been a roller-coaster ride filled with unexpected twists, turns, overperformers, and underperformers," Robbins added. "The end result is a positive one for the industry and moviegoers alike with a variety of films generating strong word of mouth over the last four months."
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at [email protected].
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