Barbie dominates Oppenheimer at box office with biggest opening of 2023

It seems lots of people want to party with Barbie, but Oppenheimer’s numbers aren’t looking too shabby either.

By James Hibbs

2023-07-23 09:21:16

The so-called Barbenheimer weekend is here, and not only have both Barbie and Oppenheimer scored rave reviews but they have also brought in big money at the box office.

Barbie looks to be the clear winner of the weekend, having earned $70.5 million at the US box office on Friday (the biggest opening day of 2023 so far) and being projected to earn $155 million plus across its opening weekend. It’s also expected to score an international debut around $120 million, which would put it at a worldwide total of around $275 million.

This would put Barbie at the number one spot for the year to date, beating out The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s $146.3 million US box office debut.

This may mean that Greta Gerwig’s Barbie comfortably beats Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but that does not mean its opening weekend rival has been a disappointment – far from it.

"Margot
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Barbie
Warner Bros/Jaap Buitendijk

In fact, Oppenheimer is reportedly looking at a $77 million weekend in the US, which would be Nolan’s third-biggest US debut (not adjusted for inflation) behind The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight.

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Internationally Oppenheimer is projected to earn $88.9 million across its opening weekend, which would give the film a worldwide debut of $165.9 million.

Both films will no doubt have been partly buoyed by Barbenheimer, an online phenomenon suggesting people should see both distinctly different movies back-to-back.

One person who has come out in favour of this double-bill is Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy, who said in a recent interview: “”I love Margot Robbie, I love Ryan Gosling, I want to see them now. I don’t know what the debate is about, although it’s not that I have an overwhelming opinion about it either.

“My advice would be for people to go see both, on the same day. If they are good films, then that’s cinema’s gain.”