Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you should know by now what Barbenheimer is. The long-awaited, simultaneous theatre release of the Barbie and Oppenheimer films came on 21 July and it quickly became one of the highest grossing box office openings in cinematic history.
“I don’t think anyone could have reasonably predicted this kind of confluence between Oppenheimer and Barbie”, said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “If you’re going to a theatre right now, the communal experience is reminiscent of major Marvel and Star Wars films, but without those franchises remotely involved.”
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 (…) People recognized that something special was happening and they wanted to be a part of it.
Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of the US National Association of Theatre Owners
In the US, Barbie grossed $155 million, with an additional $182 million from the international box office, bringing its total to $337 million. Oppenheimer got $80.5 million domestically and $93.7 million internationally, totalling at $174 million. Barbenheimer thus grossed over $511 million worldwide, from which $235.5 million domestic.
This makes Barnebheimer the most successful box office opening since Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019 and the fifth most successful in cinematic history. The only four higher grossing openings were Avengers: Endgame ($357 million), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260 million), Avengers: Infinity War ($257.5 million) and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens ($248 million). Cinephiles will notice these are all sequels, making Barbenheimer the highest grossing opening of an original story.
This is an unequivocally great weekend for moviegoing. Barbie and Oppenheimer are complementing each other at the box office, not taking audience from each other.
David A. Gross, Principal at Franchise Entertainment Research
This is not the first time two films are released at the same time. Other popular opening weekends saw Toy Story and Casino (22 November 1995), The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You (31 March 1999), Elf and Love Actually (7 November 2003) or The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! (18 July 2008) come out at the same time. But Barbenheimer is the first opening weekend to see one of the movies earn (just in the US) over $100 million and the other over $50 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Part of Barbenheimer’s success came from the anticipation for both films by cinephiles. One would expect that a movie about the Barbie doll and one about the invention of the atomic bomb would have completely different audiences, but movie goers were ready for both.
The built-up online craze played into the anticipation as well, maybe more than the films’ own marketing campaigns. The ridicule of the contrast between the pink, ever cheerful Barbie universe and the grave, grey Oppenheimer one, highlighted in the most creative, carefully crafted memes, has been fuelling audience’s eagerness for months.
Coming at a time when going to the movies seemed to die out, the success of Barbenheimer proves that the classic formulas don’t always work. “Warner Bros.′ “The Flash” has fizzled, Pixar’s “Elemental” failed to lure in family audiences and even the return of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones wasn’t enough to pack cinemas”, CNBC reports.
“It’s a historic result that showcases the enthusiasm audiences have for a variety of fresh content”, Robbins explains. “These films have exquisitely tapped into the cultural zeitgeist. They’ve reignited the summer box office flame and they’ve proven that studios can be a little more aggressive with counter-programming strategies in the future.”
