Despite heading into its third week on general release, Greta Gerwig's Barbie has held on to the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office after officially passing $1 billion worldwide.
Warner Bros.' comedic/satirical fantasy has exceeded all expectations, and while Gerwig has previously cast doubt on a potential sequel, it's difficult to imagine the studio - and Mattel - failing to capitalize on the movie's success by developing a follow-up.
Meanwhile, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem claimed the #2 spot after pulling in a solid $28 million from 3,858 venues, climbing to $43 million over its first five days in theaters.
The movie is sure to benefit from positive word-of-mouth thanks to its “A” CinemaScore and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also has a relatively modest $70 million budget, which means it won't have to take in nearly as much to turn a profit as other recent animated features such as Pixar’s $200 million-budgeted Elemental and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($100M).
From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) comes Barbie, which also stars America Ferrera (End of Watch, the How to Train Your Dragon films), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell, Yesterday), Issa Rae (The Photograph, Insecure), Rhea Perlman (I’ll See You in My Dreams, Matilda), and Will Ferrell (the Anchorman films, Talladega Nights), and more.
Gerwig directs from a screenplay she penned alongside Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, The Squid and the Whale), based on the iconic fashion dolls by Mattel.
The film’s producers are Oscar nominee David Heyman (Marriage Story, Gravity), Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, with Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.