'Barbie' and 'Super Mario Bros' led 2023 box office with 'The Marvels' disappointing

In 2023, plastic topped the box office. 

'Barbie'

"Barbie" was the year’s highest-grossing film with more than $1.4 billion worldwide, according to Variety. The Margot Robbie-led and Greta Gerwig-directed comedy launched the "Barbiecore" fashion trend and pulled the nostalgic toy out of the dusty attics of our childhoods into the national conversation again. It also helped Mattel get a bump in sales for the ever-stylish doll.

"Consumer demand for our product increased in the quarter, and we continued to outpace the industry," Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said, according to The Guardian. "Our results benefited from the success of the Barbie movie, which became a global cultural phenomenon, and marked a key milestone for Mattel."

‘BARBIE’ CROSSES THE BILLION-DOLLAR MARK AT THE BOX OFFICE, LEADING BEST JULY SINCE PRE-PANDEMIC

‘Super Mario Bros Movie’

Another bit of nostalgia, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" came in second with $1.35 billion.

"It reinforced something that we’ve known for 100 years in the business: People like going to the shared experience out of the home," Jeffrey Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros, told the Associated Press of audiences’ return to theaters after the COVID-19 pandemic. "It probably started with ‘Mario’ last April. I think that showed audiences again that theaters are a fun place to be. And it showed studios and content creators: Up your game."

'Oppenheimer'

Universal’s World War II biopic "Oppenhemier" came in third with $951 million and became part of a phenomenon called "Barbenheimer," which refers to theatergoers who opted to see both the period thriller and the colorful "Barbie" movie after both films were released on July 21.

Notably, none of the top-three box office earners this year were part of an established film franchise, a feat that hasn’t happened since "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" hit theaters in 2001, according to AP. 

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And while there were some massive hits, superheroes may have found their kryptonite this year.

While larger-than-life figures have dominated movie screens for much of the last decade, theatergoers are beginning to show signs of weariness for cape-clad do-gooders.

'The Marvels'

Disney’s "The Marvels" made a disappointing $200 million worldwide, leading Disney CEO Bob Iger to admit at New York’s DealBook Summit that "Quantity, in our case, diluted quality," referring to how many superhero movies the company has put out recently, according to NBC News.

‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ 

Disney's highly anticipated fifth installment of the "Indiana Jones" franchise made a disappointing $383 million, which was made more painful by its larger-than-life budget (it was one of the most expensive movies ever made) of $300 million, according to Variety.

"It’ll take a heroic feat, one that would test even an enduring legend like Indiana Jones, for the fifth installment in the decades-old franchise to become profitable in its theatrical run," Variety's Rebecca Rubin predicted in July.

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‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’

"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" also proved that reliable box office draws like Tom Cruise – who was coming off the success of 2022’s "Top Gun: Maverick – can’t always guarantee box office success. The high-flying movie cost $291 million to make and only earned $567 million worldwide.

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The seventh installment in the spy series had good critical reception, but it was released just a week before "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" blew up the summer narrative and never stopped.

The release of "Dead Reckoning Part 2" has been pushed back from 2024 to 2025.