When Barbie and Oppenheimer hit theaters at the same time last weekend, both movies made history. Greta Gerwig’s hot pink comedy won the box office, and is on its way to being the biggest movie of 2023. However, I want to break down some of the very impressive statistics from both films (which many watched as a same-day double feature) that show how seriously impressive both of them are.
After this past weekend, which was the fourth most lucrative box office weekend of all time, behind two Avengers films and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one does have to wonder how Hollywood will try to replicate the phenomenon. More double bills? More movies about iconic toys? Theoretical physicists? Ahead of all that though, let’s break down some wild stats from both movies we’ve seen in recent days.
Barbie Earned A Warner Bros. Record Tuesday
Indisputably, weekends are the most popular times of the week for audiences to go to the movies, but Barbie is such a big hit more people showed out on its first Tuesday in theaters than for movies like Aquaman and Dark Knight. As Deadline reported, Barbie broke a Tuesday record for Warner Bros. with a domestic haul of $26.1 million in a single day. Some movies are lucky if they cash that much money in a single weekend, folks.
Oppenheimer Made Some Extra Money Because Some Barbie Screenings Were Sold Out
Another wild fact about the current fever dream that is Barbenheimer comes from a study (per People) that found some people who initially hoped to see Barbie in theaters couldn’t find a seat due to sold-out screenings and opted for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer instead. In other words, Barbie being such a big hit, it also helped the biopic find even more financial success. Of course, then there’s the theater that accidentally featured a half-pink screen during Oppenheimer perfectly in the spirit of the pairing hitting theaters at the same time.
Barbie Made Over A Half A Billion In A Single Week
For another stat that also underlines how darn popular Barbie is, it turns out the flick has already crossed $500 million worldwide as of its first week in its theaters, per Deadline. So, it’s already halfway to $1 billion in box office sales. For context, other blockbusters like The Little Mermaid and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania made around half a billion dollars during their entire run in theaters. Barbie is on fire! What’s additionally exciting about those numbers going to Barbie is the fact that it’s a rare female-directed flick, and it’s now earned the best debut for a movie that’s not a sequel, remake or superhero movie.
Oppenheimer Crossed $100 Million Domestically In Five Days
While Oppenheimer doesn’t have the same numbers as Barbie, the Nolan movie is an R-rated three-hour biopic about the father of the atomic bomb! That’s not exactly the easiest sell for mainstream moviegoers, and yet it’s doing fantastic in theaters, earning over $100 million domestically in just five days of its release. The movie has made over $220 million worldwide. With those numbers, Nolan’s drama currently is No. 15 among the highest-grossing movies of the year, and it's the only one among the top 20 (aside from Pixar’s Elemental) to not be based on an already established IP or brand.
As the 2023 new movie releases reach their second weekend at the box office, I imagine the two movies will continue to break more records and pump out more wild statistics!
