Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Barbenheimer. Warner Bros./Universal
- “Barbie” seems to blow up “Oppenheimer” at the box office in its opening weekends.
- Greta Gerwig’s comedy will cost $155 million in the US, “Oppenheimer” $77 million.
- Around 200,000 people have reportedly booked “Barbenheimer” to see both films on the same day.
Barbie looks to be eclipsing Oppenheimer this weekend as movie fans flock to see Margot Robbie play Mattel’s plastic doll, though it seems both movies are doing even better than their studios had hoped.
Greta Gerwig’s film will gross $155 million domestically in its opening weekend, according to studio forecasts from , while Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb epic is set to gross $77 million.
Internationally, “Barbie” is targeting an additional $120 million to bring the total to $275 million, while “Oppenheimer” is expected to gross $89 million, or $166 million.
That means the first appearance in the Mattel Cinematic Universe will surpass Nolan by more than $100 million.
It also means that Gerwig now appears to have achieved the highest opening weekend for a film directed by a woman, surpassing Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman.
Barbie reportedly cost $145 million to make, plus an estimated $100 million for the elaborate marketing campaign, while Oppenheimer reportedly cost $100 million.
Barbie fans outside a Manhattan movie theater on Friday. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Despite “Barbie’s” dominance and reported frustration from Nolan’s camp surrounding Warner Bros.’ Despite the decision to release the film on the same day that Universal Pictures settled on “Oppenheimer,” it doesn’t look like the scheduling has hurt either film.
In fact, “Barbenheimer” has become a social media phenomenon, leading to some moviegoers planning to watch both films back-to-back. According to a survey by the National Association of Theater Owners, 200,000 people booked tickets for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on the same day, according to The Associated Press.
Insider’s Chris Panella was one to do this – and controversially claims that watching ‘Barbie’ first is the correct order. “It’s easier to transition emotionally from ‘Barbie’ to ‘Oppenheimer’ than the other way around. Ending with ‘Barbie’ might seem like the right move… but you’ll think about nukes and death as you get into the movie,” he writes.
The “Barbenheimer” madness has helped the two films to a record-breaking cinema weekend. According to , it is the first where one title has grossed more than $100 million and another more than $50 million in the same three-day period.
According to the publication, 68% of “Barbie” viewers were female, while 64% of “Oppenheimer” viewers were male.
Although “Oppenheimer” trailed “Barbie” at the box office, it appears to have won the battle among critics. The WWII film has a score of 89 on Metacritic based on 63 reviews, compared to a score of 80 for Barbie.
Ditto on Rotten Tomatoes, where “Oppenheimer” has a staggering 94% rating on both the Tomatometer and Audience Score, although “Barbie” still has an impressive 90% on both measurements.
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