Summary

• Barbie becomes the third "original" movie this century to hit record-breaking box office success, earning over $1.4 billion worldwide.
• Greta Gerwig's film presents intriguing lessons on identity, feminism, and capitalism through the story of Barbie.
• Barbie's success highlights the need for more original movies in the age of sequels, but replicating its achievement may be challenging due to the industry's focus on established franchises.

Barbie have record-breaking success at the box office, but it also won the hearts of fans and critics alike.

While it's no surprise that a title led by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling would receive a positive reception based on their respective track records, expecting the movie to be in Oscar discussions wasn't widely predicted. Barbie embraced nostalgic aspects of the toy by featuring several memorable Barbie character variations and versions of Kens. More importantly, Gerwig used the story of Barbie to present intriguing lessons on identity, feminism, and capitalism. Robbie, Gosling, and the rest of the Barbie cast created a lot of laughs, but they also made something special, especially when looking at one of the movie's incredible achievements.

Barbie Is Only The 3rd "Original" Movie To Be The Highest Grossing Of A Year This Century

When looking at worldwide box office data within the 21st century, Barbie is only the third "original" title to achieve the title of the highest-grossing movie of the year. The current century started on January 1st, 2001, meaning that the two movies to be a year's record-holder and be considered an original story were Avatar in 2009 and Frozen in 2013. James Cameron's Avatar win in 2009 marked the highest for any year, earning $2.9 billion. Frozen made almost $1.3 billion in 2013, which is an exceptional feat in its own right. The other highest-grossing movies since 2001 are all sequels from franchises like Lord of the Rings, Shrek, the MCU, and Star Wars:

With Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the list, some might wonder if it would be considered an original movie. Though it wasn't a sequel like the movies outside of Avatar, Frozen, and Barbie, the Harry Potter books were already a global phenomenon by the time the first movie released in 2001. The movie itself was also an adaptation of the novel, and the same can't be said for something like Barbie. The toy from Mattel certainly had a massive following and storied history, but it wouldn't be in the same way its existence created a demand for a movie in the same fashion as a book being made into a movie. Gerwig used the IP to essentially craft an original tale.

Barbie's Success Is What The Box Office Needs More Of (But Is Hard To Imitate)

In the age where sequels, prequels, and spinoffs are still prioritized to cash in on established fan followings, Barbie's success in 2023 is further proof that original movies can still succeed. Rather than look at making a sequel, studios need to analyze what made Barbie work so well as an original concept. Whether it's completely new universes like Avatar and Frozen or known elements used as the foundation to build original stories like in Barbie, the box office needs more originality mixed in with the sequels that will ultimately continue to drive the box office.

Considering the small amount of original movies to hit the top spot at the yearly box office in just this century, replicating Barbie's success is very difficult to imitate. Even older movies are getting legacy sequels or reboots, meaning studios are spending less time investing in fresh stories. While there's still an upside to new world-building, seeing original movies like Barbie become the highest-grossing movie of the year may become less frequent as the century goes on.