Even though "Barbie" raked in more numbers than "Oppenheimer" at the box office, it seemed like the star-studded album fell a few thousand short of debuting at the top spot of the Billboard 200 albums chart.
"Barbie," despite its mixed reviews from critics, is performing commercially well, especially on the charts.
'Get Up' NewJeans vs 'Barbie' Soundtrack
According to Hits Daily Double, NewJeans' "Get Up" is bolstering to a Billboard 200 debut next week with 130,000 album equivalent units.
Despite the strong efforts that the "Barbie" Soundtrack has put up in the past few months, the girl groups trumped them.
Should the group really debut at the top, this would be the first project of the Korean girl group to debut on the Billboard 200 charts.
On the other hand, "Barbie" is projected to debut at 109,000 album-equivalent units, with only 55,000 album sales, compared to NewJeans' 105,000 album sales.
READ ALSO: Mark Ronson Wanted Nicki Minaj to be a Part of 'Barbie the Album' Right From the Start
'Barbie' Movie Soundtrack Reviews
Despite its strong footing on social media and streaming platforms, critics weren't as pleased with the soundtrack compared to the movie.
Pitchfork gave the album a 5.4 score out of 10, noting that "these throwaway products should largely be left on the shelf."
NME Magazine gave a three out of five stars rating on the album. They praised the intimacy and vulnerability that Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For" on the album. The song, albeit "more whispery" than Eilish's usual, was deemed as if it is "Barbie's deepest, darkest secret."
The Guardian echoed this sentiment, noting that half of the artists on the soundtrack were from Atlantic Records' own roster of talents, with tracks seemingly added just to boost the sales of the actual products that Mattel has. In the end, the publication remarked the album was "a cynical exercise in corporate synergy."
Meanwhile, AP News spoke highly of the album, noting that the artists "understood the assignment."
"Collectively, they deliver a dreamhouse of songs that are each at least a little better than they have to be. The tracks succeed both as cinematic elements and as standalone songs. The result is a worthy, danceable bookend to the classic Saturday Night Fever soundtrack of a generation before," the review read.
READ ALSO: Nicki Minaj The 'Top Choice' For 'Barbie' Movie Soundtrack, Music Exec Says
