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Source: Variety
Of all the major Hollywood films to be released in the year 2023, none are as outwardly distinct from one another as Warner Bros. fantasy comedy “Barbie” and Universal’s biographical thriller “Oppenheimer”. The former, directed by Greta Gerwig of “Lady Bird” and “Little Women” fame, is a bright, colorful, and intentionally artificial-looking film adaptation of the popular toy line of the same name (one that has historically been aimed primarily at young girls), while the latter, directed by Christopher Nolan (best known for such films as “Inception” and “The Dark Knight”), recreates the life and career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who spearheaded the invention of the atomic bomb. With “Barbie” appearing to be targeted at women and younger audiences and “Oppenheimer” supposedly being aimed at men and older audiences, one would think that there wouldn’t be too much overlap in terms of those who are eager to see a given film. This may be why Universal and Warner Bros. were willing to release their films on the same day (Friday, July 21st); neither necessarily thought of the other as a threat to their business (at least in this particular situation). With all this in mind, it might not seem too surprising that each film has been able to thrive in spite of coming out right alongside one another. What is surprising though: the fact that both films may have inadvertently helped each other become bigger successes than previously anticipated.
The reason behind this unexpected success: the meme known throughout social media and the entirety of the Internet known as Barbenheimer. When it was revealed that “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” would be released to theaters at the exact same time, several social media users took notice of what an immensely stark contrast these two films had with one another and, rather than opting to just pick one or the other, announced a desire to see them both back-to-back, an experience that many would describe as being one of the greatest tonal whiplashes one could subject themselves to within the span of two feature films. This trend only grew more and more as the premiere date emerged and the marketing for each film only made audiences more eager to see both these films, and while the “winner” of this unusual cinematic showdown is clear for all to see, the “loser” was still able to exceed most expectations and bring in far more money over its opening weekend than most anyone had thought was possible.
With a weekend gross of around $162 million (a noticeable improvement over the previously reported $155 million, and a much higher total than the $110 million that the most optimistic of pre-release predictions had anticipated), “Barbie” took the top spot at the box office and broke several different records in doing so. It was able to earn the largest opening weekend gross of any film released in 2023, blowing past previous record holder “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and its $146 million (though it should be noted that “Mario” was released on a Wednesday and was able to collect over $200 million during the five-day period). It’s also the largest opening weekend gross for any film that was directed by a woman; that record has previously been set over four years prior with 2019’s “Captain Marvel”, which had been directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and was able to earn $153 million throughout its opening weekend. That title, however, now belongs to Greta Gerwig, and the overwhelming success of her film could not have come at a better time for Warner Bros., which is currently suffering a massive loss following the underperformance of its previous major blockbuster “The Flash”, and the studio is hoping that the film will continue to maintain a prominent presence at the box office in the weeks to come. “This historic result reflects the intense heat, interest and enthusiasm for ‘Barbie,” states Jeff Goldstein, the president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. “This doll will indeed have long long legs.”
“Oppenheimer”, meanwhile, may have only been able to collect just over half of the weekend gross that “Barbie” was able to accumulate over the three-day period, but that is by no means a disappointment, especially considering how much less many were expecting it to make. In contrast to the $45 to $50 million that many had predicted the film would earn during its opening weekend in the weeks leading up to its release, Nolan’s film blew past expectations and earned roughly $82.4 million (even higher than the initial reports of $80.5 million). In hindsight, “Oppenheimer” was probably never going to make anywhere near as much money as “Barbie”; its three-hour running time reduces the number of screenings a theater can hold in a given day (which is less of an issue for the just-under-two-hours “Barbie”), and its R rating puts a limit on the number and types of people who are able to see the film theatrically (again, this is less of an issue for “Barbie”, as its PG-13 rating is far more inclusive). However, these limitations were not enough to suppress the unprecedented amount of hype surrounding Christopher Nolan’s latest cinematic endeavor; apart from “The Dark Knight” and its sequel “The Dark Knight Rises”, this is the highest opening weekend gross of Nolan’s career, and it’s also one of the highest opening weekends for any R-rated film or biopic. Even if the film wasn’t able to match the grosses of “Barbie”, it’s highly doubtful that anyone at Universal is unhappy with how “Oppenheimer” is performing.
Another factor that may have enabled “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” to perform better than anticipated (and could allow them to continue to fare well in the following weeks): strong word of mouth. Both films have been almost universally lauded by critics (popular reviewer aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes currently shows “Barbie” with a 91% approval rating and “Oppenheimer” with an approval rating of 94%), and audience reception so far has been no less enthusiastic. Should both films maintain this momentum over the next few weeks, it would be more or guaranteed for both of them to become some of the biggest box office successes in recent memory. The industry certainly needs such success right now – a recent string of underperforming blockbusters and the delays being caused by the currently ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are bringing a major blow to business – and hopefully from all this, they’ll be able to recognize that sometimes the films people want to see are the ones that appear to be most unique, ambitious, and reflective of their creator’s distinct and personal visions.
