‘Blue Beetle’ Ends ‘Barbie’s: Blue Beetle became the new No. 1 movie at the domestic box office, earning $25.4 million. Barbie added another $21.5 million for a huge total of $567.3 million — the Greta Gerwig-directed film has now been the top earner for 4 straight weekends, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Oppenheimer took third place with $10.6 million.
‘Blue Beetle’ Ends ‘Barbie’s
This marks Barbie’s first weekend since its July 21 release not finishing first, beating major releases like Haunted Mansion and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles previously.
Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, Blue Beetle is a superhero origin story based on the DC Comics character, played by Xolo Maridueña.
When a powerful alien device attaches itself to college grad Jaime Reyes, he gains superpowers. Billionaire Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) then tries to weaponize the tech.
The 22-year-old Maridueña is DC’s first Latino superhero lead. With authentic Latinx representation, he told PEOPLE he “can start to practice the lessons” his family taught him.
Maridueña hopes movies like “Blue Beetle, Across the Spider-Verse, and Joy Ride” will “instill confidence” in young audiences not used to seeing themselves onscreen. “[Representation] really goes a long way, and I’m so excited for Blue Beetle to fill in another piece of the puzzle,” he said.
Meanwhile, Barbie’s July 21 release saw it beat Oppenheimer to become Warner Bros. highest grossing domestic film, surpassing 2008’s The Dark Knight. It has earned over $1 billion worldwide.
As a result, Greta Gerwig is now the top grossing female director of a live-action film globally, per The Hollywood Reporter. She topped Captain Marvel’s co-director Anna Boden.
Given Barbie’s success, Mattel plans to adapt 14 more properties, including a Lena Dunham-directed Polly Pocket film starring Lily Collins.
Both Barbie and Blue Beetle are in theaters now.
You Might Also Like:
