Barbie finally dethroned by new #1 movie at box office

After five weeks at the top of the box office chart, Barbie has finally been dethroned by a new movie.

Barbie has been a true box office phenomenon. With great reviews – and fuelled by the Barbenheimer craze, whereby fans watched both Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day – Greta Gerwig’s movie has grossed its budget many times over.

Barbie blasted past $1 billion globally more than a week ago. While in the US, the film’s running total is $567 million, meaning it will soon surpass The Super Mario Bros Movie’s $574 million, making it the most successful movie of 2023. But over the weekend, it was finally knocked off the top spot domestically.

Barbie finally dethroned by new #1 movie at box office

Blue Beetle is now the number one movie in America, dethroning Barbie after five weeks in pole position.

From Friday to Sunday, Blue Beetle made $25.4 million, while Barbie dropped to $21.5 million, which is still a large sum after all that time in cinemas.

Blue Beetle is a new superhero movie that stars Xolo Maridueña as the title character, with the official synopsis as follows: “Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab.

“When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.”

The other big release of the week – talking animal movie Strays – couldn’t come close to either movie, making just $8.3 million. In spite of receiving generally positive reviews. As well as featuring the vocal talents of Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx.

Will Barbie return to the top spot?

Blue Beetle made more money on Friday than Saturday, suggesting the audience was front-loaded, and that the film won’t have much longevity.

The big movie hitting US screens this week is Gran Turismo. But that video game adaptation hasn’t made much of a splash since hitting international screens, and with Barbie performing pretty consistently for the last five weeks, don’t be surprised to see Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling back on top next week.

For more Barbie coverage, click here. While for Blue Beetle articles, head here.