Summary
- Oppenheimer's box office success is outstanding compared to Killers of the Flower Moon, with staggering opening night numbers of $33 million.
- Both movies are historical epics based on true stories, have star-studded casts, and are directed by popular directors, making the difference in box office even more remarkable.
- Oppenheimer's higher box office can be attributed to its marketing, buzz from the concurrent release of Barbie, its bigger cast, and the greater familiarity of the Oppenheimer story.
It has only been recently that movie theaters have begun to boom again, and successful films like Oppenheimer proved that there is still interest in going to see movies, however, the recent release of another long and serious historical drama shows just how incredible Oppenheimer's success really was. Released in July 2023, Oppenheimer is the most recent project coming from legendary director Christopher Nolan. Based on the book "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer," the movie follows the life of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer from his time at university through his creation of the atomic bomb used in World War II.
Three months after the release of Oppenheimer, a new film has been released that has just as much hype surrounding it, and a very similar tone. Killers of the Flower Moon is the newest Martin Scorsese film and tells the true story of a series of murders in Osage Nation, Oklahoma during the 1920s. Like Oppenheimer, the movie is based on a book of the same name and has a star-studded cast. Overall, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon have many similarities between them, but in reality, comparing the two proves just how amazing Oppenheimer's box office numbers were.
Oppenheimer's Ending Explained - Can We Forgive J. Robert Oppenheimer?
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer follows its titular subject — before & after he created the atomic bomb. We break down the biopic's ending in detail.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Shows Just How Incredible Oppenheimer's Box Office Is
By comparing the box office numbers of Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer, it becomes increasingly clear just how outstanding the latter's box office numbers were. On its opening night, Oppenheimer earned $33 million with approximately $10 million via Thursday night previews, meanwhile, Killers of the Flower Moon made $9.4 million on opening night, with an extra $2.6 million during previews. Ultimately, these numbers are staggeringly different. While Oppenheimer cannot compare its nearly $1 billion box office to Killers of the Flower Moon $44 million box office because of their different release dates, these opening night statistics say it all.
The reason why Killers of the Flower Moon's box office is so important to compare to Oppenheimer's is that, in countless ways, these movies are the same. Both are historical epics based on true stories, include star-studded casts, are directed by wildly popular directors, and have long run times. Furthermore, it is important to that these types of movies don't often do well as compared to more mainstream films. Killers of the Flower Moon's box office is not bad at all, and yet, Oppenheimer's blows it out of the water. Knowing all of this information, it makes Oppenheimer's earnings look almost impossible.
Why Oppeneheimer's Box Office Is So Much Higher Than Killers Of The Flower Moon
In the end, there are many reasons why Oppenheimer's box office is so high, and higher than Killers of the Flower Moon in particular. First and foremost, Oppenheimer had an incredible amount of marketing attached to it, and even more so because of "Barbenheimer" opening weekend. Because Oppenheimer was released on the same day as Greta Gerwig's Barbie, it had an overwhelming amount of buzz around it that Killers of the Flower Moon doesn't. Other factors could be Oppenheimer's bigger cast, which in some ways, could make it more notable, the Oppenheimer story is more well-known, and Oppenheimer is long, but shorter than Killers of the Flower Moon.
