‘Barbenheimer’ Even Bigger Than Expected: ‘Barbie’ Soars to $162 Million, ‘Oppenheimer’ Jumps to $82 Million
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Barbenheimer” keeps on growing. Greta Gerwig’s very pink fantasy-comedy “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s extremely dark historical drama “Oppenheimer” powered to bigger opening weekends than originally reported. “Barbie” ended up with $164 million in its first weekend of release, above Sunday’s already record-breaking estimate of $155 million.
Those ticket sales rank as the biggest opening weekend of the year — besting “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146 million). It also stands as the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman, overtaking Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s 2019 blockbuster “Captain Marvel” ($153 million). “Oppenheimer,” too, beat expectations with $82.4 million, just slightly higher than Sunday’s huge $81.5 million projection.
At the international box office, the biopic about the “father of the atomic bomb” added $93.7 million for a global tally of $174 million.
Even with a box office draw like Nolan at the helm, it’s a remarkable start for a three-hour-long period piece with little action and lots of talking.
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