Three-quarters of the way through the year it’s worth checking in on how Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has done. You’ve probably heard it’s the highest-grossing film of the year at $631 million domestically in the U.S. and $1.42 billion worldwide. This puts it at #11 all-time domestic (above “The Avengers”) and #14 worldwide (above “Avengers: Age of Ultron”).
Will anything surpass it this year? I’d lean toward no. “Killers of the Flower Moon” is very anticipated, but the highest grossing Martin Scorsese film previously is “The Wolf of Wall Street” at $389 million domestic – or nearly $250 million short.
“The Marvels” is a potential contender – “Captain Marvel” made it to $426 million in the U.S. and $1.13 billion worldwide. I’d keep your eye on it.
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” could be a contender. Sequel “Catching Fire” made $424 million domestic a decade ago. It remains to be seen how popular the franchise is now, especially without Jennifer Lawrence.
Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” starring Joaquin Phoenix may seem a potential threat, but Scott’s highest grossing film remains “The Martian” at $228 million domestic. To be fair, adjusted for inflation his $62 million for “Alien” in 1979 and $187 million for “Gladiator” in 2000 would both be higher…but still not “Barbie” territory.
“Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom” could capitalize on the previous film’s success – $335 million in the U.S. and $1.15 billion worldwide. That’s still short of “Barbie” and the first film had the benefit of a romance subplot. This one lacks that appeal, centering instead on Aquaman and his brother. It pissed off misogynist idiots by keeping Amber Heard on cast and then pissed off feminist supporters by severely cutting her screen time. Let’s remember 52% of the first film’s audience was women. It wouldn’t have done nearly as well without bringing in that audience. “Aquaman” is one of the only films to escape the DC universe’s incredibly weak performance with women – if it loses too much of that appeal, it may not be a real contender even with its impressive international performance.
It also really depends how you count. For 2023 Calendar, a lot of December films get cut off. For 2023 Films (counting what they make going into 2024), “Aquaman” is more of a contender.
You’ve got several animated films, such as a new “Trolls” movie and Disney film “Wish”, but these are unlikely to get close to the same range. Then you’ve got “Wonka”, which could perform very well as a holiday film, but I don’t think is going to have enough initial appeal or legs beyond the holiday season.
That leaves a soup of awards contenders, most of which won’t come out for real until 2024 and which will often see very successful box office runs to the tune of a few hundred million tops – but again not “Barbie” territory.
If I had to bet, I think “Barbie” remains at the #1 spot for the year – especially if we’re talking in terms of U.S. box office. A very real possibility is that we get women directors helming 2 of the top 3 or 4 earning films with Nia DaCosta directing “The Marvels”. (I’m assuming that if nothing gets close to “Barbie” at #1, the somewhat close total of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” at #2 also holds.)
In an ongoing-COVID world, audiences are also much more selective. No one predicted “Indiana Jones” or “Mission Impossible” performing the way they did domestically, so franchises are less reliable than they’ve been in the past. It’s hard to predict when and where superhero fatigue will hit. Their ceiling hasn’t really eroded, but there is more variance in performance from one title to the next.
Let’s get to this week, where a new show comes from the U.S., and new movies from France, Norway, and the U.S.
NEW SERIES
CW: gory violence
Gen V (Amazon)
showrunners Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas
I am endlessly bemused that amidst the amount of violence in that trailer, they blanked the word “dick” out. Can’t have impressionable minds sullied in the middle of a horrific bloodbath.
Deep breath. “Gen V” is a spin-off of the dark superhero satire “The Boys”. It chronicles the first generation to know that their superpowers aren’t random, but come from a targeted pharmaceutical compound. They compete against each other at a corporate sponsored school.
Showrunners Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas have written and produced on “Agent Carter”, “Emergence”, and “Law & Order: SVU”.
“Gen V” is on Amazon. The three-episode premiere is tomorrow, Friday September 29. A new episode drops every Friday after for a total of 8.
NEW MOVIES
The Kill Room (in theaters)
directed by Nicol Paone
A money-laundering scheme gets complicated when an assassin becomes an overnight art sensation. He’ll have to navigate the underworld and art world to get out with his life. Joe Manganiello, Samuel L. Jackson, and mother-daughter duo Uma Thurman and Maya Hawke star.
Nicol Paone previously directed “Friendsgiving”.
“The Kill Room” has a wide release this weekend.
CW: pregnancy complications/horror
Nightmare (Shudder)
directed by Kjersti Helen Rasmussen
Mona and Robby are a couple who’ve just lucked out on a roomy but run-down apartment. As they begin to renovate, they experience mounting pressures and hallucinatory visions.
The Norwegian horror film is written and directed by Kjersti Helen Rasmussen. She previously wrote thriller “The Tunnel”. “Nightmare” is her first feature directing as well.
“Nightmare” is on Shudder.
Other People’s Children (MUBI)
directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
A woman with no child forms a bond with her boyfriend’s daughter. “Other People’s Children” had four Lumiere Award nominations, including Virginie Efira’s win for Best Actress.
“Other People’s Children” is on MUBI.
Street Flow 2 (Netflix)
directed by Leila Sy
Sequel in a French franchise about brothers trying to eke a successful future in their overlooked Paris suburb.
“Street Flow 2” is on Netflix.
Take a look at new shows + movies by women from past weeks.
Subscribe to my Patreon! It helps with the time and resources to write more features like this one.
Gabriel Diego Valdez 