‘Barbie’ beats ‘Oppenheimer’

This “Barbie” just scored the biggest domestic opening weekend of 2023.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Barbie” debuted in first place at the box office this weekend, earning a whopping $155 million in the United States and Canada. The PG-13 comedy easily defeated Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” which opened in second place with $80.5 million, according to studio estimates.

In addition to notching the biggest launch of the year — ahead of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146.4 million) — Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” also marks the best domestic debut of all time for a title directed by a woman, surpassing 2019’s “Captain Marvel” ($153 million).

The film industry received a much-needed shot in the arm this weekend thanks to the cinematic, cultural phenomenon that is “Barbenheimer.”

For months, people around the world have eagerly anticipated the simultaneous releases of Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” — two auteur-driven studio tentpoles so  thematically opposed, movie fans have been unable to resist fusing them in memes, posters, T-shirts, TikTok videos and now, theaters.

“There’s certainly some cross-pollination going on,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at measurement firm Comscore.

“Film buffs will be created this weekend after maybe some people who had no intention to see ‘Barbie’ will now see that. Others who had no intention see ‘Oppenheimer’ — because of ‘Barbenheimer’ — are going to want to see both. And that’s really cool.”

As of Sunday morning, it was clear that many thousands of moviegoers indeed saw both — often back to back. AMC Theaters reported on Friday that more than 60,000 loyalty program members had reserved tickets to see “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on the same day.

Cinemas across the country were packed with moviegoers dressed in bubblegum pink and/or charcoal costumes to celebrate the movie event of the summer.

“It’s so rare,” said Dergarabedian, who couldn’t remember a dual-opening weekend generating this much collective buzz since 2000’s “The Patriot” and “The Perfect Storm.”

“I mean, this is marketing catnip. … To have this situation where you have these two films, linked together in this way … rival studios but yet having this sort of baked-in camaraderie here.”

Undoubtedly boosted by the popularity of the “Barbenheimer” double feature, both the feminist flick about a doll come to life and the historical drama about the father of the atomic bomb over-performed in the United States and Canada. It also doesn’t hurt that both features boast ridiculously stacked A-list casts headlined by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”) and Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”).

The blockbusters’ combined revenue helped secure this weekend a spot in the top five highest-grossing weekends of all time at the domestic box office, according to Warner Bros. It also marks the first time two competing films have opened to more than $100 million and $80 million in the same frame, as well as the fourth time a weekend has amassed more than $300 million.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/R39XtQL