Sony Claims Gran Turismo Beat Barbie At The Weekend Box Office, But It's Pretty Sketchy
On paper, it seemed like a quiet weekend at the box office. "Blue Beetle" entered its second weekend and the only major newcomer was Sony's racing drama "Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story," which is, as the title implies, based on a real story about a gamer who ends up getting the chance to become a racing driver. But between National Cinema Day bringing out tons of moviegoers on Sunday and an unexpectedly tight race for the top spot on the charts, things did get interesting after all. Now, Warner Bros. and Sony are in a bit of a dispute over who actually came in at number one. So, was it "Gran Turismo" or "Barbie" on top? It depends on who you ask.
According to Variety, Warner Bros. is claiming that "Barbie" was the number one movie this past weekend, with Greta Gerwig's blockbuster taking in $15.1 million in its sixth frame. Meanwhile, Sony is also trying to claim that "Gran Turismo" was number one, with the racing film taking in $17.4 million. That number is, however, misleading, as Sony is including multiple weeks' worth of sneak preview screenings that total $3.9 million. Without those ticket sales, the film only would have earned $13.5 million and would fall to number two on the charts.
It is common practice for studios to take Thursday preview screenings into account for an opening weekend total. "Gran Turismo" did $1.4 million on Thursday and that's all fair game. But taking two separate weekends of additional screenings to help goose the opening weekend figures for a given movie is a bit shady. It's a messy situation and it's not likely one that either Sony or Warner Bros. is going to give up on. They each see it their way, and this becomes a messy weekend in the annals of box office history as a result.
Sony needs a win, Warner Bros. is taking a victory lap
None of this is to say that studios haven't done stuff like this in the past. As Variety's article points out, Warner Bros. did something similar with Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" during the height of the pandemic to help inflate its $20 million opening weekend. Similarly, Paramount held preview showings of "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" earlier this year, which counted towards its opening weekend haul of $38.5 million.
Whatever the case, Warner Bros. is in victory lap mode, as "Barbie" has now made $1.34 billion worldwide and is the studio's biggest movie ever. For Sony, it's all about scoring a win the studio truly needs. Outside of the incredible performance of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," they've had a rough year, with movies like "65," "Big George Foreman," and "The Machine" dramatically underperforming. Even Jennifer Lawrence's R-rated comedy "No Hard Feelings" fell a little short of expectations, taking in $86.6 million worldwide against a $45 million budget.
In the case of director Neill Blomkamp's "Gran Turismo," we're talking about a movie with a $60 million budget — before marketing — that has thus far generated $53.9 million worldwide. With the cast unable to do press due to the ongoing strikes that have effectively shut down Hollywood, this movie has a long way to go before it will be able to turn a profit, at least during its theatrical run. Being able to say that the movie topped the box office helps with the optics and promotional campaign, so it's easy to see why Sony is playing it the way they're playing it, fair or not.
Both "Gran Turismo" and "Barbie" are in theaters now.