Greta Gerwig’s bright pink comedy “Barbie” is on its way to become the year’s highest-grossing title at the domestic box office. Warner Bros. has scheduled an IMAX run for the film, which will begin on September 22 for a limited one-week engagement. The release will also include new post-credits footage chosen by the film’s director.
American scholar and journalist @ErikDavis tweeted about the latest “Barbie” news. The Barbie-related twitter post got 9.3K+ Views:
NEW: #Barbie is getting an IMAX release! The Greta Gerwig film will get a one-week IMAX release beginning 9/22, and that version will have new post-credit footage in it selected by Gerwig. This news drops as #Barbie becomes the highest grossing film of 2023 pic.twitter.com/ClLoLZm1IS
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) August 24, 2023
On Wednesday afternoon, Warner Bros. executives Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution, and Andrew Cripps, president of international distribution, announced the plans, which involve a North American release as well as certain overseas markets. Gerwig also spoke in the statement.
“We made ‘Barbie’ for the big screen, so it’s a thrill to be able to bring it to Imax, the biggest screen of all,” Gerwig stated. “As a special thanks to ‘Barbie’ fans, we’re excited to share a little bit more of our cast and crew’s incredible work by adding special new footage we hope audiences will enjoy.”
“If there was one thing missing in this winning ‘Barbie’ strategy, it was being able to put Greta’s singular vision on premium Imax screens over the uber-competitive summer corridor. That ‘Barbie’ continues to draw packed audiences around the world heading into its sixth weekend in release speaks to the quality of the film and the excitement audiences have for the story,” According to Goldstein and Cripps’ joint statement. “We are so pleased to give them a chance to see ‘Barbie,’ whether for the first or fifth time, in such an experiential format as Imax.”
“Barbie” has emerged as the summer box office powerhouse after just over a month in theaters, with ticket sales presently totalling $572 million in North America and $1.3 billion globally. What’s noteworthy about the Warner Bros. release’s theatrical fortunes is that it first missed out on premium large formats, such as Imax, to Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” the epic-length biopic directed by Christopher Nolan and released on the same day. As a result, “Barbie” was unable to capitalize on the premium ticket pricing for these auditoriums; even without them, the picture is on track to surpass “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.359 billion internationally) as the highest-grossing title of 2023.
“For all of us in the exhibition community, it’s been exciting to watch an original film like ‘Barbie’ become an unparalleled critical and commercial success this summer,” Richard Gelfond, Imax Corporation CEO, remarked in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Greta and her filmmaking team and our friends at Warner Bros. to deliver this special edition of ‘Barbie’ with never-before-seen footage exclusively to Imax audiences around the world.”
Gerwig, the Oscar-nominated director of “Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” co-wrote the screenplay with her creative collaborator, Noah Baumbach. Barbie and Ken, played by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, depart the Dreamhouse to go for an adventure through the real world.
Poised for a second coming to IMAX screens, “Barbie” fans will surely be eager to find out what hidden cinematic treasures await them in the post-credits sequences.
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