The Barbie phenomenon has taken the world by storm, as the Greta Gerwig fantasy comedy film rockets towards the $1 billion milestone. And why shouldn’t it? It’s a fun, clever movie that inventively plays with the world of Barbie while not being afraid to put the doll’s controversial history under the spotlight. As a result, everyone naturally wants to know when you can watch Barbie from the comfort of your living room.
With Warner Bros. Pictures owning distribution rights, that gives us a good idea of when Barbie will be available to stream in the US and the UK. Of course, nothing is set in stone but looking at the company’s history, we can make a pretty educated estimation. Then you can pop on your best pink outfit, channel your “Kenergy” and enjoy one of 2023’s biggest movie releases.
Here's everything we know about how to watch Barbie and when you will be available to stream the film.
When will Barbie be available on VOD?
Barbie was released in cinemas globally on July 21st, 2023. The next place the movie will be available to watch is via VOD (video on demand). Now when it becomes available is all down to how it performs at the cinema. Black Adam, for instance, debuted in theatres on October 21st, 2022, before being made available on VOD on November 22nd, 2022. That film, however, did not perform great at the box office.
Barbie, on the other hand, it’s doing well. Extremely well, in fact. Within its first three days, Barbie earned close to $155 million in the US, making it the highest opening of 2023 so far. With that in mind, we expect the movie to have a longer theatrical run the most and be made available to stream via VOD sometime in late September or October.
When will I be able to stream Barbie in the US?
As Barbie is a Warner Bros. film, it will stream exclusively on HBO Max (or Max as it’s now called) in the US. Typically, movies appear on the streaming service about a month after landing on VOD. so we’d expect Barbie to be available to watch on Max from late October or November.
A subscription to Max is available from $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year with higher tiers available that remove advertisements.
When will I be able to stream Barbie in the UK?
As Max is not available in the UK, Barbie will likely land on the Sky-owned NOW streaming service since that’s where Warner Bros. likes to put all of its latest movies. An example of this is Babylon (also starring Margot Robbie), which debuted in UK theatres on January 20th before being made available to stream on NOW from July 21st, 2023. That’s six months from cinema to streaming. So Barbie is likely not to be available to stream on NOW until December 2023 or even January 2024. Again, anything can change but this is our best guess.
A NOW Entertainment pass subscription is available for £6.99 for six months with further tiers available.
Looking for something to watch in the meantime? Here’s our recommendations for the best Netflix movies 2023 as well as our top picks for best Netflix shows 2023, including the return of Black Mirror and a new black comedy-drama all about road rage.
