Barbie and Oppenheimer have officially been released in cinemas for two days as the greatest box office (and social media) battle of the year heats up.
Barbie, in particular, has launched an unprecedented media campaign, dominating various aspects of popular culture such as fashion and music.
Amidst a challenging period for Hollywood, which includes a writers and actors strike and a series of box office failures, the cleverly orchestrated opening weekend for Barbenheimer is already breaking revenue records.
As anticipated, many audiences are flocking to see both films, either as a double feature or individually throughout the weekend.
Even Tom Cruise, whose own latest film seems to have been affected by the simultaneous releases, has shared his plans for which movie he will watch first.
Cruise told Variety: “On Friday, I’ll see Oppenheimer first and then Barbie on Saturday.”
His latest Mission Impossible film, Dead Reckoning Part 1, earned $78.491 million during its five-day opening weekend. This is a strong, yet not exceptional, result consistent with the previous installments in the franchise. However, those films had long-lasting success, performing steadily and well for several weeks.
Despite Cruise’s request for an extended IMAX run, Oppenheimer was given preference. Consequently, this weekend, Mission Impossible 7 is expected to drop to approximately $20 million at the US box office as moviegoers flock to the two new releases.
To Hollywood’s great relief, Barbie and Oppenheimer are already exceeding expectations and predicted to surpass all estimates.
Initially, Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan seemed to be the favorite heavyweight. The US opening weekends for his Batman films, The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight, amounted to $160.9 million and $158.4 million, respectively.
Greta Gerwig is highly regarded by critics, but her acclaimed film Little Women debuted in the US with only $16.7 million.
Although one film may appear more serious and weighty, both Barbie and Oppenheimer have achieved impressive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, with approval ratings of 90% and 93%, respectively.
It is now evident that one of these movies will significantly outperform the other during the crucial
At this stage, Barbie is on track to earn at least $150 million this weekend, with the potential for slightly more. This would make it the biggest opening of the year so far (and potentially of all time) and the largest for a female-directed film in history.
The Margo Robbie-led film is also expected to generate at least an additional $120 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, Oppenheimer, led by Cillian Murphy, is projected to earn at least $75 million in the US this weekend and up to $90 million internationally. These figures are remarkable for a historical, dialogue-driven film with minimal direct action.
There has been speculation for some time about Barbie potentially reaching the billion-dollar mark, and that scenario is becoming increasingly likely.
Amidst Hollywood’s disappointment with underperforming blockbusters, attention is now focused on one of the biggest combined opening weekends in history.
The recent sequel to Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny opened disastrously with $60 million and has only achieved $312 million worldwide. Considering its $300 million production budget, plus marketing costs, it is projected to incur losses of up to $200 million.
Likewise, the latest installment in the Justice League DC franchise, The Flash, concluded its run with a disastrous $268 million, despite having a budget of at least $200 million.
This weekend, Hollywood can breathe a small sigh of relief, while also acknowledging that it is two entirely original, non-franchise films that are bringing in much-needed revenue.