For weeks now, movie professionals have been wondering how much money Barbie doll And Oppenheimer will perform on their combined opening weekend. As of Sunday, we have the answer: enough to buy one much of Dreamhouses (and/or homes without kitchens in Los Alomos).
The actual numbers are nothing short of amazing. Although the final figures won’t be available until Monday, it looks like Greta Gerwig‘S Barbie doll grossed around $155 million domestically and another $182 million internationally, even exceeding sky-high expectations. Christopher Nolan‘S Oppenheimer earned about $80.5 million domestically and $93.7 million internationally—a pretty impressive figure for a three-hour drama about men in hats discussing theoretical physics.
That means together, the phenomenon known as Barbenheimer earned approximately $511 million worldwide, $235.5 million of which was earned domestically—enough to make it the fourth-highest-grossing week in U.S. history and the only of those four weekends. Are not motivated by the sequel released by Disney. (The openings of Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Game overAnd Star Wars: The Force Awakens take 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.)
The deadline has a list of all the box office records that have just been broken: Barbie doll now boasts the biggest opening week ever for a female director. It’s also the biggest opening weekend for a toy-based movie (beating Transformers: Shadow of the Moon). Oppenheimer had the biggest global opening for a biopic.
But those stats underline what really was and is special about Barbenheimer. Massively marketed as both of these films, their massive success feels like an organic phenomenon, fueled by the genuine enthusiasm of the realists. (What a concept!) Yes, Barbie doll IP-based, and therefore, in a sense, is Oppenheimer. However, both films are idiosyncratic, director-directed projects and not the high-octane action-sequel that studios seem to believe is the only type of movie likely to make a lot of money anymore. Both are also being received better than most wannabe blockbusters: critics (including Vanity Fair‘s!) responded enthusiastically to each film, while audiences gave each film an A Cinemascore.
Furthermore, the clear contrast between Barbie doll And Oppenheimer try to work in favor of both films; so many viewers voted to see not one but two movies, wearing their best medieval hats and suits and Barbie suits. “People realized that something special was going on and they wanted to be a part of it,” Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, told CNBC. “Our partners in the creative community and at the studios brought audiences two unique, clever and original stories for the big screen, and movie buffs responded by bringing together friends and family and heading to their local theaters across the country.”
the singularity of Barbenheimer it would be difficult if not impossible to reproduce, though that doesn’t mean the studios won’t try. Then we can only hope that they learn the right lesson from this weekend: like Nicole Kidman keep telling us, people want to go back to the cinema. They’re simply more willing to come back if it means seeing something they haven’t seen a million times before.
