A spokesperson for Universal Studios in New Zealand confirmed to the Herald that the film’s opening weekend grossed $3.5 million. Oppenheimer came in second with an estimated $1.4 million - with both movies making up the biggest opening weekend for any studio in New Zealand since 2021.
And hordes of moviegoers are continuing to turn out to see the film dressed in head-to-toe pink outfits, many of them opting for a double bill with Cillian Murphy-starring Oppenheimer.
If like me you’ve been to the movies over the past week to see one - or both - of the films, you’ll have seen the crowds for yourself, decked out in pink cowboy hats or all-black ensembles, in numbers we’ve rarely seen since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Throughout New Zealand, cinemas are selling out when it comes to the nostalgia-packed Barbie movie.
Claudia Muldrew saw the film at Event Cinemas in Westfield St Lukes on Saturday, as its Newmarket location was “pretty much fully sold out”.
“We got tickets about two hours in advance, there were a few left but the cinema was full by the time it started,” she told the Herald.
“There were some people dressed up, but as we went to an afternoon viewing I think it was a little more subdued than some viewings in the evenings - when we left the theatre at 6pm the lobby was packed full of people dressed in pink outfits.”
“It was definitely buzzing with clapping and cheering at the beginning and end ... the general buzz was something I haven’t seen since bigger franchises,” she added, noting that it reminded her of the final Twilight or Hunger Games screenings in the 2010s.
A Herald writer said she saw the film yesterday and the theatre was “absolutely packed” - after first attempting and failing to get tickets at Silky Otter.
A spokesperson for Event Cinemas, which has locations across the country, told the Herald there had been an “amazing response” to the film’s release.
“Many of our locations had sold-out sessions across the weekend,” they shared.
And fittingly for fans of Barbie, reflecting her love of the high life, the cinema’s boutique offerings are in especially “high demand”.
A staff member at Silky Otter Ōrākei, Bella, told the Herald that for Barbie, “pretty much every single session” had sold out so far. “It’s pretty crazy.”
The boutique cinema also serves Barbie-themed cocktails to go with the film, and the team at Ōrākei had been making “so many” to keep up with the demand, she added.
“Last week [people] were consistently lining up, dressed in all pink, large groups,” Bella said.
The last time the cinema had seen hype like this around a new film release was probably for Avatar: The Way of Water last year, she said - but there “wasn’t the same level of excitement” for the James Cameron film as there has been for Barbie.
A staff member at Focal Point Cinema and Cafe in Palmerston North, Logan, said that “all the weekend sessions are sold out when it comes to Barbie”.
The earlier sessions weren’t so popular with people at work and school during those times, but he added that even on weeknights, the evening sessions were “very popular”.
Hoyts and Reading Cinemas NZ have also been approached for comment.
Movie theatres will be revelling in the high ticket demand, a sign that cinema is well and truly back.
When the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in 2020, countless theatres across the world and in New Zealand were forced to close as people stayed home, blockbuster releases were delayed, and many films went straight to streaming platforms instead of to the big screen.
The crowds lining up to take part in cinema’s biggest showdown in years are proof that in 2023, we still want to go to the movies - and nostalgia is what keeps bringing us back.
Bethany Reitsma is an Auckland-based journalist covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2019. She specialises in lifestyle human interest stories, foodie hacks (what can’t you air fry?!) and anything even remotely related to coffee.
