When Will <i>Barbie</i> Be Available to Stream?
Barbie’s blowout party is finally upon us. After months of lead-up, feeding us a steady drip of set photos, character posters, plot theories, and brand collaborations, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie—starring Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as her counterpart Ken—has landed with an even bigger bang than Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. And what started as a joke about the two films debuting on the same day (July 21) has turned into an actual event, the smash-hit “Barbenheimer” double feature, as fans line up to watch both movies back-to-back.
Barbie is, of course, based on the iconic Mattel doll, and offers a live-action interpretation of the Barbie universe, which is pink and perfect and filled with Barbies charmingly oblivious to the perils of the real world. As Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie begins to doubt her worldview, her “irrepressible thoughts of death” start a chain reaction amongst her many Barbie friends in Barbie Land. The film is star-studded, with additional dolls (and humans) played by Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Dua Lipa, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, and many more.
After its debut on the 21st, Barbie is on one hell of a box office run. But for those eager to watch from the comfort of their own Dreamhouse, you might be asking: When and where can I stream it?
Barbie is currently set to be released exclusively on HBO’s Max streaming service, as the film shares a parent company with HBO itself: Warner Bros. Discovery. As for when the film might drop on Max, that’s harder to say—WBD has yet to announce an official streaming date. Two recent movies to go to Max after airing in theaters include Evil Dead Rise and Shazam!, both available to stream at 63 days and 67 days, respectively, after their theatrical debut. However, neither film brought in anywhere near the box-office cash to rival what Barbie is projected to earn.
If WBD sticks with this roughly two-month pattern, Barbie should be out on Max by this fall. But with the success of the incidental Barbenheimer release boosting sales, distributors might decide to keep Barbie in theaters-only for a while longer. Or they might offer a model that allows people to rent at home, as some streaming services offered in the early days of COVID-19. Either way: The Barbie party has no plans to shut down any time soon.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
Culture Writer
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.
