Barbie Opens to Record-Setting $155 Million, Oppenheimer Shatters Expectations with $80 Million Debut
by Rebecca Rubin
July 23, 2023


Over the weekend, moviegoers turned out in force for Greta Gerwig’s neon-coated fantasy comedy Barbie, which smashed expectations with $155 million to land the biggest debut of the year. But they also showed up to see Christopher Nolan’s R-rated historical drama Oppenheimer, which collected a remarkable $80.5 million in its opening weekend.

The cultural craze known as “Barbenheimer” worked to fuel the biggest collective box office weekend of the pandemic era, as well as the fourth-biggest overall weekend in history.




Hundreds of thousands of ticket buyers refused to choose between the two seemingly different auter-driven blockbusters with sprawling casts and twin release dates. So they opted to attend same-day viewings for both, turning the box office battle into a double feature for the ages.

“This is an unequivocally great weekend for moviegoing,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ are complementing each other at the box office, not taking audiences from each other.”




In the end, though, it wasn’t a competition as Barbie loomed large over box office charts, thanks to an inescapable marketing campaign, as well as quality to match the stratospheric hype. At the international box office, the film added $182 million for a stunning global tally of $337 million.

Audiences and critics dug the PG-13 film, which landed an “A” CinemaScore and 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.






Oppenheimer may be settling for second place — not that Universal or Nolan is complaining. Buoyed by stellar reviews and premium large formats, the biopic about the so-called “father of the atomic bomb” is wildly outperforming expectations for a three-hour-long period piece with little action and lots of talking.

Heading into the weekend, analysts were anticipating a $50 million start, which already would have been notable given the grim film’s subject matter and style. It's domestic opening weekend raked in $80.5 million and the film added $93.7 million at the international box office for a global tally of $174 million.






Tom Cruise’s big-budget sequel Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One took third place, tumbling by 64% with $19.5 million in its second weekend of release. It didn’t help that Oppenheimer is all but monopolizing the country’s PLF footprint, where tickets are pricier than standard screens.

The seventh installment in Paramount and Skydance’s globe-trotting action franchise has generated $118.7 million in North America and $370 million globally to date.






In fourth place, the independent juggernaut Sound of Freedom added $18.8 million from 3,285 theaters in its fourth weekend of release.

The thriller about child sex trafficking has generated $124 million to date, making it the 14th-highest grossing domestic release of the year.






Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny rounded out the top five, bringing in $6.7 million from 2,885 venues. After four weeks on the big screen, Harrison Ford’s action-adventure movie has grossed $159 million domestically and $335 million worldwide.

The only trouble? It cost $300 million (and remember, theater owners get a share of ticket sales), meaning it's is still deep in the red.

https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/box-office-barbie-oppenheimer-opening-weekend-shatter-records-1235677601/






July 21-23, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Barbie $155,000,000
2. Oppenheimer $80,500,000
3. Sound of Freedom $20,140,647 / $124,748,584
4. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One $19,500,000 / $118,753,469
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny $6,700,000 / $159,018,862
6. Insidious: The Red Door $6,500,000 / $71,001,673
7. Elemental $5,800,000 / $137,233,827
8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse $2,815,000 / $375,209,269
9. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts $1,120,000 / $155,642,604
10. No Hard Feelings $1,075,000 / $49,210,693

I was Never a Barbi fancier, my daughter got a few Barbi things, but so little.

No one would find me viewing this movie....

Barbie Scores Massive $93 Million, Oppenheimer Adds Huge $46 Million in Second Weekends
by Rebecca Rubin
July 30, 2023


It’s a “Barbenheimer” world and we’re just living in it.

The collective force of Barbie and Oppenheimer continued to rule the box office in their second weekends of release, providing another needed jolt as two Hollywood strikes threaten the fragile exhibition industry.





Greta Gerwig’s cotton candy-colored fantasy comedy again led the way, adding a massive $93 million between Friday and Sunday. Ticket sales for Barbie declined just 43% from its debut and resulted in the seventh-biggest second weekend in history.

Christopher Nolan’s dark historical drama also had a stellar sophomore outing, taking in a mighty $46.6 million over the weekend. According to Universal, it became the first R-rated film to gross more than $10 million for seven days in a row on Friday — that streak extended to 10 days through the weekend.





After two weeks on the big screen, Barbie has generated $351.4 million in North America to stand as the fourth-biggest domestic release of the year. Globally, the Warner Bros. film has grossed more than $750 million and ranks as the third-largest film of the year.

Meanwhile, Oppenheimer has earned $174 million at the domestic box office and $400 million at the global box office.





Two new movies, Disney’s remake of Haunted Mansion and A24’s violent thriller Talk to Me, attempted to entice audiences in the wake of “Barbenheimer,” to varied results. (Of course, nobody could predict the dominant punch of the two blockbusters when release dates were set.)

Haunted Mansion debuted in third place with $24.6 million from 3,700 North American theaters. The film added $9.1 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide tally to $33 million. It’s not a great result for a kid-centric tentpole and it probably didn’t help that the Halloween-esque film opened in July.

Disney spent $150 million to produce the film and tens of millions on promotional efforts. So, the film has a high bar to reach profitability, at least in its theatrical run.





The low-budget Talk to Me generated a healthy $10 million from 2,340 theaters across the U.S. Those ticket sales exceeded expectations and were enough to land in sixth place.

It’s the second-biggest start in wide release ever for A24, following Hereditary with $13.6 million.





Elsewhere at the domestic box office, the independent juggernaut Sound of Freedom added $13.6 million from 3,411 theaters in its fifth weekend of release.

The thriller about child sex trafficking has generated $150 million to date, making it the 12th-highest grossing domestic release of the year.





Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One took the No. 5 spot on domestic charts with $10.7 million from 3,191 venues in its third outing. Internationally, the film has generated $309.4 million for a global total of $448 million.

Despite positive reviews, the $291 million-budgeted blockbuster has stumbled in the wake of “Barbenheimer” and will struggle to recover in its theatrical run.

https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/barbie-box-office-oppenheimer-second-weekend-records-1235681039/






July 28-30, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Barbie $93,000,000 / $351,402,851
2. Oppenheimer $46,200,000 / $174,060,430
3. Haunted Mansion $24,200,000
4. Sound of Freedom $12,409,300 / $148,972,065
5. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One $10,725,000 / $139,233,033
6. Talk to Me $10,028,632
7. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny $4,000,000 / $167,084,867
8. Elemental $3,400,000 / $144,983,672
9. Insidious: The Red Door $3,175,000 / $78,081,584
10. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse $1,440,000 / $378,796,158

Barbie Rules Box Office Again with $53 Million, Taking Down Meg 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
by Rebecca Rubin
August 6, 2023


Barbie towered over the box office for the third consecutive weekend, taking down newcomers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Meg 2: The Trench.

Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy added a remarkable $53 million in its third weekend of release, a decline of just 43% from its prior frame. Barbie has generated $459 million in North America and surpassed the $1 billion mark globally after just 17 days in theaters.

It’s the first film directed solely by a woman to cross the coveted milestone.






Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, too, stayed strong in its third outing with $28.7 million, dropping only 39% from last weekend and bringing domestic ticket sales to $228 million.

The R-rated historical drama has grossed $552 million at the worldwide box office, becoming the director’s sixth film to cross the $500 million mark. Oppenheimer, which has remained a force in Imax, landed in third place on domestic box office charts behind the sequel to The Meg and ahead of Mutant Mayhem.






Meg 2: The Trench opened in second place with $30 million from 3,503 North American theaters. It’s a decent start, albeit a significant drop from the original 2018 film, which opened to $45 million and became a surprise smash with $530.5 million globally.

The follow-up film about scientists who take on giant prehistoric sharks cost $130 million, so Warner Bros. is banking on another strong turnout at the international box office to offset its price tag. China Media Capital co-financed the film.

The good news is that despite terrible reviews and mediocre audience scores, Meg 2: The Trench has collected $112 million overseas for a mighty global start of $142 million.






In fourth place, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem pulled in a solid $28 million from 3,858 venues over the weekend and $43 million over its first five days of release.

The PG film will continue to benefit in the coming weeks from its “A” CinemaScore and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. It cost $70 million, which less than recent animated offerings such as Pixar’s $200 million-budgeted Elemental and Sony’s $100 million-budgeted Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.






Disney’s Haunted Mansion remake dropped to No. 5 with $9 million from 3,740 theaters, a 63% dip from its debut. The spooky film, which was curiously released in July, has grossed $42 million in North America and $59 million globally to date.

It’s shaping up to be a theatrical misfire for Disney, which spent $150 million to produce the film and tens of millions on promotional efforts.







Elsewhere, A24’s low-budget thriller Talk to Me added a healthy $6.27 million from 2,370 screens its sophomore outing.

With $22.1 million at the domestic box office, the film already stands as A24’s highest-grossing release of the year.

https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/barbie-box-office-third-win-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-meg-2-1235688787/






August 4-6, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates


1. Barbie $53,008,647 / $459,390,060
2. Meg 2: The Trench $30,002,735
3. Oppenheimer $29,121,040 / $228,989,660
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem $28,007,544
5. Haunted Mansion $9,213,064 / $42,262,872
6. Sound of Freedom $7,570,422 / $164,011,020
7. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One $6,610,512 / $151,163,282
8. Talk to Me $6,272,232 / $22,135,092
9. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny $1,593,458 / $170,712,517
10. Elemental $1,320,609 / $148,408,547

Box Office: The Last Voyage of the Demeter Flops With $6.5 Million, Barbie Keeps Her Crown for 4th Weekend with $33.7 Million
by Brent Lang
August 13, 2023


The Last Voyage of the Demeter sank without a trace over its opening weekend, going to a watery grave with just $6.5 million. The period horror film, which centers on one chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, namely the bit where his coffin gets transported from Transylvania to England, was distributed by Universal.

It’s the studio’s second stab at reviving the world’s most famous vampire, with last spring’s Renfield, a campy take on the bloodsucker, also collapsing at the box office.






With audiences steering clear of The Last Voyage of the Demeter, relegating it to a fifth-place finish, Barbie continued to rule the world.

The Warner Bros. release earned $33.7 million to capture first place for the fourth week in a row. That brings its total to a glittering $526.3 million.

In second place, Universal’s Oppenheimer earned $18.8 million for the weekend, bringing domestic ticket sales for Christopher Nolan’s look at the life of atomic bomb creator J. Robert Oppenheimer to $264.3 million domestically, an impressive figure for an R-rated drama.






Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem took third place, earning $15.7 million. The animated feature, which was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions, has a domestic total of $72.8 million after two weeks of release.

Meg 2: The Trench dropped 60% from its $30 million opening weekend, to earn $12.7 million, for a fourth-place finish. That brings the Warner Bros. adventure’s stateside haul to $54.5 million.






The Last Voyage of the Demeter cost $45 million to produce and ranks as another box office whiff for Amblin, Steven Spielberg’s production company, which has released recent commercial disappointments like Easter Sunday and The Fabelmans (the latter, at least, earned a boatload of Oscar nominations and positive reviews).

The fate of The Fabelmans won’t be repeated by The Last Voyage of the Demeter, which suffered a paltry 27% approval rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences seemed to agree, with a Cinema Score survey of ticket buyers giving it a lackluster B- rating.

All of this may add up to a stake through the heart of Dracula movies and reboots for the foreseeable future. The problem with movies about the undead, however, is that it’s awfully hard to kill them off.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/box-office-last-voyage-of-the-demeter-flops-opening-weekend-results-barbie-1235694927/






August 11-13, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Barbie $33,833,294 / $526,442,188
2. Oppenheimer $18,812,970 / $264,282,445
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem $15,276,936 / $72,316,437
4. Meg 2: The Trench $12,845,534 / $54,282,451
5. The Last Voyage of the Demeter $6,504,950
6. Haunted Mansion $5,797,073 / $53,054,219
7. Talk to Me $5,116,277 / $31,321,266
8. Sound of Freedom $4,868,216 / $172,849,614
9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One $4,605,034 / $159,495,904
10. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny $921,130 / $172,646,483