“Barbenheimer” has exploded at the box office.
WBD’s
Barbie posted the biggest opening of the year, and
Universal’s
Oppenheimer topped $80m.
Barbie hit $162m at the box office, topping Sunday's projection of $155m.
Oppenheimer pulled in
$82.4m after all the ticket stubs were counted.
Barbie posted
the biggest single-day gross of the year with Friday's take of $70.8m. The film also pulled in $182m abroad.
The “Barbenheimer” effect—moviegoers creating a double feature out of the two films—helped drive what is expected to land as the fourth-biggest overall weekend ever. It’s the first time, though, such a feat has been achieved without sequels and superheroes.
Barbie, directed by
Greta Gerwig, is also the biggest opening weekend ever for a film directed by a woman, topping the
Anna Boden-
Ryan Fleck-helmed
Captain Marvel ($153m in 2019) and
Patty Jenkins’
Wonder Woman ($103m in 2017).
Fans have been hammered with an onslaught of
Barbie marketing all year. The activations have been so aggressive and clever that many non-
Barbie-affiliated viral moments are turning into memes. On top of that, there's a star-studded soundtrack, and WBD was lucky enough to get the cast to attend a handful of splashy global premieres before the strike canceled activity.
Fans of the
Mattel doll are pregaming and postgaming with the
Atlantic soundtrack, which is #1 at
iTunes and #3 at
Apple Music as of early Monday (7/24) morning.
As serious thematically as a movie can get,
Oppenheimer is performing like a super-hero film. The three-hour biopic was expected to fetch $50m but not only has it outperformed in the U.S., it took in $93.7m internationally.
All movies playing in the U.S. grossed $302.1m, marking the fourth time the marketplace has topped $300m.
