“Barbie” Gives America Ferrera the Biggest Box Office Opening Weekend of Her Career

Forget pink! America Ferrera is seeing the green

Greta Gerwig’s fantasy-comedy Barbie, which stars the 39-year-old Honduran American actress, earned $162 million in its first weekend at the box office. The record-breaking total gives Ferrera the biggest opening weekend of her career.

America Ferrera, BarbieThe Warner Bros. film, starring Margot Robbie as the plastic, fantastic doll, declined only 9% from Saturday to bring in $43.7 million on Sunday.

Barbie’s ticket sales rank as the biggest opening weekend of the year, besting The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146 million). Barbie also marks the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman, overtaking Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel ($153 million).

America Ferrera, Barbie“This historic result reflects the intense heat, interest and enthusiasm for Barbie,” Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein wrote in a note to press. “This doll will indeed have long long legs.”

Barbie also exceeded expectations at the international box office with $194.3 million (above Sunday’s estimate of $182 million), bringing its global tally to a stunning $356.3 million. Those ticket sales are especially notable because Barbie didn’t have much of a footprint on Imax or premium large format screens, which are more expensive than the average 2D movie ticket.

In Barbie, Ferrera portrays Gloria, a Mattel employee who helps Barbie in the real world.

Pedro Pascal in Final Negotiations to Star in Paramount’s Untitled “Gladiator” Sequel

Pedro Pascal is ready to Rome

The 48-year-old Chilean actor is thisclose to joining the cast of the untitled Gladiator sequel for Paramount.

Pascal would join Paul Mescal, who will star as Lucius, as well as Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.

Ridley Scott is returning to direct.

Pascal’s role is unknown.

The new film follows the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned more than $460 million in worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning five including Best Picture.

The role of Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, was a career-changer for Russell Crowe, not only delivering him the Best Actor Oscar but also launching him to the top of every leading-man list. Once it was made clear last year that the sequel would be Scott’s next movie, every male actor in town that fit the profile began chasing the part.

David Scarpa penned the script.

Also returning from the original film are John Mathieson (director of photography), Arthur Max (production designer) and Janty Yates (costume designer).

Paramount Pictures has dated the film for November 22, 2024.

The first film was co-production between Universal and DreamWorks, and while DreamWorks will not be involved in the sequel, Universal has the right to partner again when the project is packaged.

Pascal has been a major player following his scene-stealing role in his one season on Game of Thronesbut his star has blasted off following The Last of Uswhich has become one of the most popular shows in HBO’s history. While HBO is looking to get the show up and going next year, Pascal had been weighing a number of options to shoot before jumping back in to that and the opportunity on this film was too hard to pass up.

Besides The Last of Us, which will certainly have him in award season chatter this Emmy season, he also reprised his role on the Disney+ series The Mandalorianwhich just had its Season 3 finale last week.

Pascal can next be seen starring alongside Ethan Hawke in Pedro Almodovar’s short film Strange Way of Life, which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics this fall.

Additionally, Pascal is in Ethan Coen’s film Drive-Away Dolls, distributed by Focus Features and releasing in September. Pascal also stars in Anna Boden’s Freaky Tales, which is likely to come out later this year.

He also hosted Saturday Night Live earlier this year, earning rave reviews, and is also in contention for some Emmy love this awards season.

Pedro Pascal to Star in eOne & Macro’s New Film “Freaky Tales”

Pedro Pascal is freaky-ing out…

The 47-year-old Chilean actor has joined the all-star cast of eOne and Macro’s co-produced film Freaky Tales, the new film from Captain Marvel helmers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden.

Pedro PascalPascal joins a cast that includes Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Jack Champion, Angus Cloud, Dominique Thorne, Keir Gilchrist and Michelle Farrah Huang, as well as a collection of notable Oakland natives.

The film will be financed by eOne.

Set in Oakland in 1987, Freaky Tales is a wholly original, immersive film inspired by Ryan’s experience growing up in the bay. The film is comprised of four interconnected stories each featuring distinct characters, real life locations and noteworthy historical events (some real, some imagined).

In addition to playing the title character in Disney’s Emmy-winning The Mandalorian, Pascal will star in HBO’s upcoming series The Last of Us. Some of Pascal’s recent film and television credits include The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Wonder Woman 1984 and Game of Thrones.