Fans flock to theaters to celebrate the premiere of 'Barbie'
DANVERS - It's a Barbie world this weekend as fans are flocking to the theaters to see the new Barbie movie, and many are showing up in costume.
The Coolidge Corner theater typically sells 1,000 to 1,500 tickets on a normal weekend. They have sold more than 6,000 pre-sale tickets for Oppenheimer and Barbie combined. The theater is fully decorated for Barbie, including the workers.
"This is a sign that people are eager to come back to first-run features. This is being celebrated as some sort of novelty, but this is how it was prior to the pandemic. Movies used to come out on the same weekend and compete with one another," explains Mark Anastasio, Director of Special Programming at Coolidge Corner Theater, "We have expected this. It's just a matter of planning, having our box office team ready, and ordering enough supplies."
A Gloucester woman rented out an entire theater in Danvers so 40 of her friends could see Barbie. Ann Sanfilippo has almost 300 Barbies in her collection, and her husband built her a life-size Barbie box.
"Once a year I have a Barbie party when it's her actual birthday. And we take out the shelves and people get in to take photos," laughed Sanfilippo.
The obsession began as a child. Her mother had people over, and their children damaged her Barbies. Her mother threw them out.
"I was heartbroken. I said someday I am going to start a collection. After I had my second son, my husband was like, 'What are you waiting for? You don't need a girl to have a Barbie collection?" jokes Sanfilippo, "I started a collection and it snowballed. It's actually my husband's fault."
Ann's children came up with the theater idea. They got her enough AMC gift cards to get everyone in. There was so much demand, she had a wait list going. Everyone who came showed up in costume.
"Nothing better than enjoying something you love with people you love," smiles Sanfilippo.