HOLLYWOOD—Believe it! “Barbie” has officially become the year’s biggest box office hit. Yes, it overtook the “Super Mario Bros Movie” total. The film, which sees Margot Robbie’s titular toy swap her pink fantasy home for the real world, has now made $1.38 billion globally. That has taken the $1.36 billion by “The Super Mario Bros Movie.”
The film starring Robbie has helped the summer box office reach the $4 billion mark for the first time since the pandemic. The success of ‘Barbenheimer’ which was released on the same day has taken last year’s total of $3.4 billion by storm. They were betting that the “Super Mario Bros.” was going to be the biggest film of 2023, but Barbie has proved them wrong, the film was directed by Greta Gerwig. So far, the top films of 2023 are from BoxOfficeMojo:
- Barbie-$1.38 billion
- The Super Mario Bros Movie-$1.36 billion
- Oppenheimer-$853 million
- Gurdians of the Galaxy Vol 3-$846 million
- Fast X- $705 million
“The Equalizer 3” starring Denzel Washington, is sure to be another summer hit taking in over $42 million over the past weekend. Yes, some people actually went to the movies and forfeited their barbeques.
Next month, the BFI London Film Festival will take place in London, England. The festival runs for two weeks from October 4 through October 15. This year’s line-up includes some of the year’s most anticipated films. One of them being Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro and is based on the 2017 book of the same name. We also have “Maestro,” which stars Bradley Cooper as “West Side Story” composer Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his actress wife Felicia Montealegre, will also screen at the festival. Last month, the film attracted controversy when some suggested Cooper’s appearance played up to Jewish stereotypes, however Bernstein’s family defended his performance.
Other highlights include drama, “The Bikerriders” which features Tom Hardy and “Elvis” star Austin Butler. “The Book of Clarence” will also be showcased with performances from Cumberbatch and LaKeith Stanfield. “One Life”, starring double Oscar-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins as the British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, will be shown in a mid-festival gala slot. The presence of stars on the red carpet of their film’s premieres has always been an important element of the London Film Festival.
The ongoing Hollywood strikes involving writers and actors means some stars will not make appearances in London to promote their films. The festival’s director said, if the current situation continues into October, it will have an impact. There will also be new movies from acclaimed directors- David Fincher’s “The Killer” starring Michael Fassbender; Yorgos Lanthimo’s surreal drama “Poor Things” starring Emma Stone; and Sophia Coppola’s “Priscilla” starring Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Bealieu, who went on to marry Elvis Presley. In total, the festival will be showing 160 features from 92 countries.
The Venice Film Festival is currently in the last few days, it began on August 30 and will end on September 9. Since the strikes are ongoing with SAG-AFTRA and WGA, Emma Stone decided to skip the red carpet in solidarity. The film “Poor Things” is already garnering her Oscar buzz and apparently includes a scene where she has sex with a piece of fruit. So as you guessed, A-listers are not there, however, a ton of B-listers and models walked the red carpet. Woody Allen, 87, is considering retiring after his latest film “Coup de Chance,” a romantic thriller that marks his 50th feature film. Let’s see if he truly considers it.
Rose’s Scoop: A legend has died. Jimmy Buffett passed away Labor Day weekend at the age of 76, after struggling with skin cancer since 2022. He died peacefully Friday, September 1 surrounded by his family and friends, music and dogs.
