Barbie And Oppenheimer Are Putting Up Huge Numbers At The Box Office

The box office is primed for a jolt this weekend with the release of two highly anticipated movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer, and the films are already off to good starts, according to Deadline.

Barbie, from director Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, reached $22.3 million for its Thursday premiere in the US. That's the biggest stateside Thursday results for any movie so far in 2023, outpacing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's $17.5 million.

As for Oppenheimer, Universal announced that it earned $10.5 million from its own Thursday box office results in the US.

For the full weekend, Barbie is projected to earn $100 million or more in the US, with Oppenheimer expected to bring in around $50 million. Barbie had a reported budget of $140 million, compared to a supposed budget of $100 million for Oppenheimer. These figures do not count marketing expenses.

The fact that Barbie and Oppenheimer are releasing on the same weekend has inspired many memes about the tonally distinct films as part of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon. The National Association of Theatre Owners said it's expecting more than 200,000 people to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day this weekend, according to Variety.

Given the huge box office projections for Barbie and Oppenheimer, the combined box office results for those two movies and all others should reach totals not seen in "ages," Variety reported. This should be a distinct change from recent times when films like The Flash and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny underperformed at the box office.

Christopher Nolan--who wrote and directed Oppenheimer, and star Cillian Murphy--have said the Barbenheimer phenomenon is great for the theatrical film business.

"I'll be going to see Barbie. I can't wait to see it," Murphy said. "It's just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out the same day. Could spend a whole day in the cinema, what's better than that?"