Barbie and Oppenheimer deliver a boost to Hollywood amid strike and sluggish start to the summer at the box office. The films Barbie and Oppenheimer attracted cinemagoers in record numbers for their opening weekend in North America, raking in a combined $235.5m after a difficult start to the summer for Hollywood.
Warner Bros.’s Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, generated $155m in ticket sales, overtaking The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the biggest opening of 2023.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, chronicling the life of the father of the atomic bomb J Robert Oppenheimer, took in $80.5m, beating expectations in one of the strongest debuts for a biographical drama.
“Barbenheimer”, the social media-fuelled portmanteau that describes the same-day release of the films, is expected to rake in more than $300 million by the end of the weekend to become the fourth-biggest box office opening of all time.
The simultaneous release of two of the year’s most-anticipated blockbusters spurred hundreds of thousands of filmgoers to go see the films on the same day for an unlikely double feature.
Both films have been well-received by critics, scoring 90 percent and 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.
“The ‘Barbenheimer’ thing was a real boost for both movies,” said. Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ president of domestic distribution.
“It is a crowning achievement for all of us.”
“Barbenheimer’s” stellar performance comes as Hollywood grapples with its biggest strike in decades and after a lacklustre June and July that saw both The Flash as well as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny underperform at the box office.
The strong showing of “Barbenheimer” left a large gap with the rest of the box office top five.
Sound of Freedom, a controversial action thriller that critics say promotes QAnon conspiracy theories, brought in $20.14m in the No 3 spot.
Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny took the fourth and fifth spots, raking in $19.5m and $6.7m, respectively.
Michael O’Leary, CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, described the box office frenzy as a “truly historic weekend” for cinema.
“This was a phenomenal experience for people who love movies on the big screen,” O’Leary said in a statement Sunday.
Source: AL Jazeera
BDST: 0927 HRS, JULY 24, 2023
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