'Gran Turismo' Edges Out 'Barbie' At Weekend Box Office, 'Barbie' On Track To Become Biggest Movie Of 2023

It was "Gran Turismo" with the photo finish over the weekend, racing to the finish line and just edging out "Barbie" to take the No. 1 slot at the box office over the weekend.

Per figures from Box Office Mojo, "Gran Turismo" won the weekend with just $17.4 million compared to $17.1 million for "Barbie," so it was a close race.

Based on the popular racing game series and inspired by a real-life story, "Gran Turismo" was directed by Neill Blomkamp ("District 9," "Elysium"). The film stars Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough, a young man and "Gran Turismo" enthusiast who seeks to become a real-life racecar driver. It also stars Orlando Bloom ("The Lord of the Rings," "The Pirates of the Caribbean") and David Harbour ("Stranger Things," "Black Widow").

With a budget of about $60 million, $17.4 million is a respectable enough opening for "Gran Turismo." The film also brought in $36 million overseas to bring its worldwide total to $53.9 million, so it will likely become profitable for the studio, and it will probably continue to do solid numbers overseas due to its international locales and cast.

"Barbie" is now inching closer to $600 million worldwide with a current domestic total of $594 million. It surpassed "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" to become the highest-grossing movie of the year in North America. In a matter of days, it should also surpass the worldwide take of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie' at $1.359 billion. "Barbie" is currently at $1.342 billion worldwide, so it won't be long until it takes the global record for 2023. The film stars Margot Robbie as the titular hero, with Ryan Gosling as Ken, and it's directed by Greta Gerwig.

Barbie's continued strong box office performance, even though it didn't come in first, is nothing short of phenomenal. Even in its sixth weekend of release, new films are just barely beating it to the finish line. It's rare for major blockbusters to perform over just two weekends, let alone this long.

Considering its less than auspicious opening weekend, "Blue Beetle" dropped for its second weekend but it was not horrendous. The film only fell 49% percent in its second weekend, bringing in $12.7 million and $46 million total domestically. So far the film has made $82 million worldwide, and while it likely won't be all that profitable for Warner Bros. Discovery, the film had a fairly decent hold for its second weekend coming in at No. 3.

At No. 4 was Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" with another $8.2 million. The historical drama continues to do strong business at the box office, and it's just under $300 million domestically with a little over $299 million. It's now sitting at $777 million worldwide. It's now surpassed the domestic take of Nolan's "Inception," and it should easily surpass that film's worldwide take at $837 million. The two highest-grossing films in Nolan's filmography are "The Dark Knight Rises" at $1.081 billion worldwide, and "The Dark Knight" at $1.006 billion. It seems unlikely that "Oppenheimer" will reach the $1 billion mark, but $900 million worldwide seems like a possibility.

This essentially brings an end to the summer movie season, with "Barbie" as the clear winner. However, films such as "Oppenheimer" and Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" also did impressive business that was nothing to sneeze at. DC's "The Flash" will likely be seen as one of the bigger money losers for the summer. Even longstanding popular franchises, such as "Indiana Jones" and "Mission: Impossible," struggled with audiences over the summer in a very competitive marketplace. Thankfully, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" reignited the summer movie season with the momentous "Barben-heimer" movement.