The wave of exhilaration experienced last year, triggered by Top Gun: Maverick’s triumphant revival of cinemas, was replicated once more. This time, fans nationwide gathered to participate in what is now famously dubbed “Barbenheimer” day — the highly anticipated box office clash between Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. As predicted, Barbie appears to be seizing the domestic box office reins with an outstanding performance surpassing even the most optimistic estimates.
The satirical comedy, inspired by the widely recognized Mattel toy-line, raked in $70 million on Friday, with $22 million sourced from Thursday previews. Over its opening weekend, Barbie garnered an estimated $155 million. Earlier approximations suggested the film’s debut would fall within the $90 million to $110 million bracket. Gerwig’s Barbie, in turn, secured the largest opening weekend for a single female filmmaker, effortlessly surpassing the $103 million premiere of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman in 2017.
Moreover, this signifies the most substantial opening weekend of the current year, outshining The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Easter weekend debut, which amassed $146 million. Barbie provides Warner Bros. with a much-desired respite following The Flash’s disappointing run, just a few weeks prior. The success also marks a welcome comeback for star Margot Robbie, rebounding from two high-profile failures, Amsterdam and Babylon. Serving also as co-producer on Barbie, Robbie’s work is undeniably paving the way for a potentially profitable new franchise for Warner Bros.
In a parallel universe, Warner Bros. might have launched this week’s other significant release, the biographical epic Oppenheimer, which delves into the life of the renowned theoretical physicist, often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb.” However, due to a controversial pandemic-era release strategy favoring its own streaming platform Max, Warner Bros. distanced itself from its favored son, Nolan. This led an incensed Nolan to shift his operations to Universal. Oppenheimer is currently screening in over 3,600 domestic theaters and raked in $33 million on Friday, inclusive of $10 million in previews. With an estimated weekend tally of $80 million, the film surpassed its initial forecast by more than $30 million, reiterating Nolan’s unrivaled ability to draw crowds to the cinema. This is Nolan’s third most impressive opening, surpassed only by The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
Tom Cruise Takes a Tumble
In light of extensive social media hype and buoyed by favorable reviews, both Barbie and Oppenheimer stand on a positive momentum that should provide stability throughout the summer. However, one clear loser has emerged from this narrative — Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. The movie’s timing was always expected to be problematic, hitting theaters just a week and a half before “Barbenheimer.” Star Tom Cruise, however, would have anticipated it to follow the traditional pattern of his films — a slow start followed by a steady performance in the following weeks. Unfortunately, Dead Reckoning Part One is projected to witness one of the steepest drops in the franchise’s recent history, earning $19.5 million in its second weekend, nudging its domestic total to just shy of $120 million. Given the reported cost of $290 million, primarily due to pandemic-related issues, this outcome is less than satisfactory.
Dead Reckoning Part One cannot lay the blame on poor critiques, unlike this week’s fifth-place holder, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The final Indiana Jones film starring Harrison Ford fell short of critical acclaim, a disappointment for Disney. Further dampening spirits, the film failed to be the box office hit everyone hoped for. The film collected approximately $7 million this weekend, pushing its cumulative domestic total to just under $160 million. Overall box office figures this weekend exceeded $300 million, making it the most lucrative weekend since 2019 when Avengers: Endgame premiered with record-breaking numbers, making it the fourth most prosperous weekend in cinematic history.
In conclusion, the movie industry witnessed a monumental weekend with “Barbenheimer” day, generating new records and some disappointments. Both Barbie and Oppenheimer showed strong performances, bringing back the fervor and excitement to theaters. Despite some setbacks, the cinema world remains afloat and thriving, demonstrating its ability to weather even the most challenging of circumstances and maintaining its status as an essential part of our culture.
