The global phenomenon that breaks box office records

Launched this Thursday (20), Barbie continues to follow her rosy path towards global success, and has already broken records, including in Brazil. The film, directed by Greta Gerwing, became the second biggest opening in Brazilian cinemas, second only to “Avengers: Endgame” from 2019 and surpassing “Spider-Man: No Return Home”, from 2021.

Furthermore, “Barbie”, already considered one of the films of the year for the public, became the best premiere of the year in the United States, grossing around US$22.3 million. In Brazil, in addition to the record for the biggest opening in Brazilian cinemas, the film has the biggest ticket pre-sales of the year in the country. According to the website “ingresso.com”, the film sold more than any other film production in 2023 in Brazil, exceeding spectators' expectations by 166%.

Around the world, the film's performance was also much higher than expected in its preview, as in the United States, where, at the start of sales, it was already equal to “Avatar: The Way of Water”, which opened with US$ 134 million in its first weekend. The film received several positive feedbacks, both from the public and from specialized critics, who stated that the film “presents debates and social criticisms that are really important for society. From female exaltation, to the diverse world and a strong criticism of unattainable beauty standards that were, for many years, encouraged by Mattel itself, the company that manufactures the doll.

Barbie barely arrived and has already become the phenomenon of the moment all over the world, many spectators made a simple trip to the cinema to see the film and it became a real event. Planet Earth stopped being the “blue planet” for a few days and became the “pink planet”.

Several looks inspired by the doll's outfits over the years were reproduced by fans and spectators around the planet. Cinemas around the world were infested with people wearing head-to-toe pink clothing and accessories. It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the film already becoming a real success, Barbie delivered a strong tracklist on the feature film album, with big names from the music industry such as: Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith and many others.

Barbie x Oppenheimer

The films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, which premiered this Thursday (20) in Brazil, compete for the public's attention, for the top of the box office and for the preference of specialized critics from around the world. Regarding specialized critics, “Oppenheimer”, a film that portrays the life of J. Robert Oppenhemer, a physicist and professor who directed the Manhattan Project, responsible for building the first atomic bombs in history, came out ahead on the review site Rotten Tomatoes .

According to the reviews website, the film “Barbie”, directed by Greta Gerwing, reached an incredible 90% acclaim rating at the end of its opening day, while “Oppenheimer” ended the day with an incredible 96% acclaim.

_{“Barbie” by Margot Robie and “Oppenheimer” by Cillian Murphy (Reproduction/Twitter/@skoobnews)}

Unusual connection between the films

Despite presenting completely different stories, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” present a certain connection, which not even the directors of the films themselves realized. In an unusual way, the connection between the two films is made by the French writer Marcel Proust. In the film directed by Greta Gerwing, Barbie steps into her plastic packaging and says that “the familiar smell is a Proustian memory.” What the film's director did not imagine was that Marcel Proust was one of J. Robert Oppenhemer's favorite authors, a character played by actor Cillian Murphy in the film “Oppenheimer”.

Featured photo: Margot Robie, actress from the film Barbie, in a scene from the film. Reproduction/Twitter/@tracklist