The ‘Barbie’ marketing budget cost more than the actual film
The marketing budget for the film Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has been reported to have outstripped the film’s production costs.
The film, which premiered in cinemas on Friday, July 21, attracted a lot of attention with its elaborate marketing campaign, including a real-life Barbie dreamhouse and numerous online promotions.
Ahead of its debut, the film’s promotional strategy created a buzz on social media platforms with a meme trend contrasting Barbie with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Furthermore, unique promotional events, such as offering pink burgers, kept the movie in the spotlight.
As reported by Variety, the marketing budget allocated to Barbie was a staggering $150 million – $5 million more than the film’s production cost, which stood at $145m. The aggressive investment in the movie’s promotion has paid off, as Barbie is predicted to outperform Oppenheimer at the box office over their shared opening weekend.
Early figures suggest that Gerwig’s comedy is set to earn $110m at the US box office during the opening weekend, while Nolan’s atomic bomb movie is expected to gross $50m.
The performance of Barbie at the box office will likely set a new record for the highest opening by a film directed by a female in the US, a title previously held by Patti Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, which earned $103.3m in 2017.
Confirming the film’s success, Warner Bros announced that Barbie had garnered $22.3m in box office previews – the highest for any film this year.
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