Conservative backlash couldn’t stop “Barbie” from raking in nearly $1 billion at the box office

It turns out conservative trolls were no match for Barbie. Despite their sneering, bad-faith, and frequently transphobic criticisms and calls for parents not to take their kids to see the film, Barbie is on track to make $1 billion at the global box office.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster based on the iconic Mattel doll has earned $774.5 million worldwide since its July 21 release in the U.S. And it’s likely to cross the billion dollar threshold as early as next weekend, making it the first Hollywood film directed by a woman ever to earn that much.

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Conservatives lose their minds over “Barbie” movie calling it “psychological grooming”

One male rightwing pundit said that the movie should have stuck to what made Barbie successful: “childbearing” and “homemaking.”

As them notes, those numbers definitively put the lie to the conservative mantra “go woke, go broke,” which led to calls for boycotts of major brands and corporations like Disney, Target, Bud Light, and others over LGBTQ+-inclusive products, content, and marketing campaigns in recent months.

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Barbie drew conservative backlash well before it opened, with right-wing commentators blasting the film for its critique of gender expectations and its inclusion of transgender actor Hari Nef in the role of “Doctor Barbie.”

In June, far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ Daily Wire editor Ben Shapiro whined about comments out star Kate McKinnon made about the film’s critique of gender roles. He later posted a widely mocked 43-minute video “review” of the film in which he called Barbie “one of the most woke movies I have ever seen” and expressed his outrage by setting fire to his dolls in protest.

A viral post on conservative Christian film site Movieguide warned parents not to take their daughters to see the film while accusing Gerwig, co-writer Noah Baumbach, producer and star Margot Robbie, and Mattel of “pushing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender character stories.” (While the film features several out LGBTQ+ actors, none of the characters are openly LGBTQ+.)

Professional transphobe Matt Walsh, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz and his wife Ginger, National Review critic Armond White, Piers Morgan, and Elon Musk were also among the conservative voices smearing the film.

But that didn’t stop Barbie from scoring the biggest opening weekend of 2023 so far, earning $162 million in the U.S. and topping the other big July 21 release, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. As THR notes, conservatives predicted a massive drop in ticket sales in the film’s second weekend. But Barbie saw only a 43 percent dip in attendance in North America, earning $93 million domestically last weekend, plus $122.2 million overseas.