'Barbie' Will Get a Streaming Home This Fall
The movie has been extremely successful in theaters, but that won't keep it from streaming services for long.
Barbie has exceeded all expectations at movie theaters in the last two weeks, but it will still get a home video release sooner rather than later. On Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that the movie will be streaming on Max sometime in the fall. This may be good news for some fans, though it is a sign that the norms for theatrical runtime have changed for good.
"Barbie is really important for us," Zaslav said on an earnings call with investors, according to a report by Deadline. "We really believe in the motion picture window – let it play out... go into PVOD, take it through the windows that have worked forever [in the business]. When it goes to Max, it will have a good impact in the fall."
Barbie is well on its way to being the first movie to hit $1 billion since Zaslav took over, but even that stellar performance isn't enough to tempt executives into keeping it a theatrical exclusive. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted theatrical releases, WBD was one of the boldest players in the industry by releasing all of its new movies simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max for the duration of 2021. Now, it looks like the rush to serve the streaming audience is going to be the norm.
Barbie will reportedly be playing on airlines as soon as September, although it's not clear if that correlates to the streaming release in any way. It's likely that Barbie will only be available to rent or purchase when it first goes to streaming – probably at a premium price. Like other movies, it may stay in select theaters during that time before it finally reaches Max. For comparison, WBD gave The Flash 31 days in theaters before putting it up on PVOD services.
Barbie has reportedly earned $400 million at the time of this writing and is expected to earn $1 billion by the end of the day Monday at the latest. It is projected to earn a total of $1.3 billion globally, meaning that most of its earnings will be in already by early next week. It has already racked up money more quickly than other post-pandemic movies like Top Gun: Maverick and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. For those who haven't seen it yet, Barbie is playing now in theaters.