On Douban, a popular Chinese movie review site, the movie is currently scored 8.6 out of 10, with nearly half of all viewers giving it full marks. Another top comment compared “Barbie” to another recent Chinese release, “Lost in the Stars,” which had previously received criticism for its portrayal of gender stereotypes. “There isn’t any new thinking about feminism, the movie is just an expression of old thoughts,” one person wrote on Douban. By Monday, cinemas had increased the number of screenings allocated to “Barbie” to make up 8.7% of all movie screenings, according to Maoyan. The film’s success is all the more notable given mounting challenges for US films to break into the Chinese movie market – the world’s second biggest, briefly holding the top spot during the Covid pandemic.

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Persons: Barbie ”, “ Barbie ”, Greta Gerwig, Bird, don’t, ”, “ Barbie, China’s, Greg Baker Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Twitter, Weibo, Publishing, Warner Bros, Warner Bros ., Getty, Hollywood Locations: Hong Kong, China, United States, Shanghai, Beijing, AFP