Summary

  • The simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer has broken numerous box office records, with Barbie's $155-$160 million opening and Oppenheimer's $80.5 million contributing to a bombastic total weekend gross.
  • These movies, directed by Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan respectively, have garnered attention for their stark differences in genre and subject matter, despite both having acclaimed directors and A-list casts.
  • Barbenheimer's box office success includes Barbie having the best opening weekend of 2023 and Oppenheimer securing Christopher Nolan's best opening for a non-Batman film, making this the fourth-best domestic opening weekend in history.

Oppenheimer, which were both released on July 21 and are known collectively as Barbenheimer, have smashed all kinds of box office records. The simultaneous release of the two movies has fueled a cavalcade of memes celebrating how different they are despite both being helmed by Oscar-nominated directors and boasting A-list casts. Greta Gerwig's Barbie is a wacky comedy following the titular doll (Margot Robbie) to the real world, while Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is an intense biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and the creation of the atomic bomb.

Per Barbie box office opening of $155-$160 million has combined with Oppenheimer's $80.5 million (as well as the rest of the movies currently in theaters) for a bombastic total weekend gross. Records are being broken left and right, including Barbie nabbing the best opening weekend of 2023 as well as the best opening for a non-superhero, non-sequel, non-remake title and Oppenheimer nabbing Nolan's best opening for a non-Batman movie. On top of that, this weekend is the fourth-best in domestic history, behind the opening weekends of Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. National Association of Theatre Owners President and CEO Michael O’Leary released a statement celebrating the astonishing weekend at the box office, saying:

"This was a phenomenal experience for people who love movies on the big screen. It was a truly historic weekend and continues the positive box office momentum of 2023. More importantly, it proves once again that America loves going to the movies to see great films. People recognized that something special was happening and they wanted to be a part of it. Our partners in the creative community and at the studios gave audiences two uniquely different, smart and original stories that were meant for the big screen and movie lovers responded by gathering friends and family and heading to their local movie houses across the nation. The men and women who operate our theatres also responded by creating promotions and unique events to further enhance the moviegoing experience for enthusiastic movie lovers. This weekend is a shining example of how there is simply no substitute for seeing a motion picture in the cinema."

Has The Box Office Finally Recovered With Barbenheimer?

Ryan Gosling as Ken in Barbie and Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer in Front of a Mushroom Cloud

Theatrical distribution has become an unstable prospect ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic led to global shutdowns in early 2020. Since then, the box office has behaved somewhat unpredictably, giving record-breaking grosses to certain movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home, but leaving others in the dust. However, that has seemingly started to turn around in the past year.

2023 started off strong with the impressive January release of Blumhouse's viral killer doll movie M3GAN. Other horror titles performed exceedingly well, with Evil Dead Rise and Scream VI taking after the success 2022 horror box office hits like of the Smile. The Super Mario Bros. Movie also broke many records for an animated release back in April. The box office runs of Creed III, John Wick: Chapter 4, and now Barbie and Oppenheimer have broken records in the respective subgenres, too.

However, it remains to be seen if Barbie and Oppenheimer becoming smash hits will affect the overall box office in the long run. As the summer draws to a close, the next tentpole blockbuster that seems most likely to be a guaranteed success is Dune: Part Two in November. That's a long time to wait for a huge hit, and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike as actors fight for fair wages could cause several titles in the interim to be delayed, leading to an even more barren schedule for theaters, reducing their profits mightily.

Source: Variety