The Barbie movie should have been a video game instead.

Even if Barbie does dominate the silver screen, a box office blockbuster is likely no match for a stellar video game release. Let’s dig into the mathematical reasons why:

Warner Brothers reportedly spent $145M to make the Barbie movie, of which $100 million alone was spent on marketing.

According to Variety, the movie is expected to generate about $100 million on opening weekend and maybe as much as $500 million in global gross revenue. And while this sounds like a lot, let’s put it into perspective.

Warner Brothers spent the same amount of money (rumored to be $150 million) making Hogwarts Legacy, the top grossing video game of 2023. The Hogwarts game generated $1 billion in a single quarter. (Many times more than any of the Harry Potter movies ever generated!)

There have been countless Barbie video games, beginning in 1984 when a Barbie game was sold for the Commodore 64. Despite all the Barbie games, presumably none have benefitted from a $100 million marketing budget. How would a AAA Barbie game with a $100 million marketing budget perform? (After all, more than half of all gamers are women, and Barbie is one of the world’s most valuable IPs.)

Here is another anecdote worth considering: BattleBit Remastered, an MMO FPS video game, recently sold 1.8 million copies in its first two weeks on the market, generating more than $30 million in revenue–and it was developed by a team of three indie developers. The massive potential for video game revenue should serve as a potent wake-up call for the movie industry, especially in light of all its current existential problems.

Hello, Hollywood!

Video games are where it’s at.?

Note:

Mattel, the owner of the Barbie intellectual property, is thrilled with the results. Suddenly their 64-year old toy brand has surged in popularity–to such an extent that they find themselves digging deep into their toybox to produce 13 more movie adaptations centered around their beloved toys, including Hot Wheels, Barney, and Polly Pocket.— with an additional 45 concepts in development. They are profiting not just from the licensing fees on the movie but all of the ancillary merchandise deals with everybody from Forever 21 to the Gap–not to mention all of the additional toys they may sell.

Some more perspective on the revenue generated by major IP:

1. The Barbie franchise has generated $3 billion since the brand was launched in 1959.?
2. The Harry Potter franchise has generated $25 billion since it launched in 1997.?
3. Meanwhile, Pokemon, has earned more than $90 billion since it launched in 1996 and is the the highest-grossing video game franchise of all time.