'Barbie' Fever Is Alive With Weekend Box Office Domination, 'Oppenheimer' Opes Strong

It appears the only film that was really hurt by the dual-release of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" last week was Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning." There was a lot of competition on social media between fans of the "Barbie" movie and Christopher Nolan for his new historical biopic, "Oppenheimer." However, it also turned out there was a legion of fans who turned it into an online meme, "Barbenheimer."

Rather than pick, it inspired moviegoers to see both films in a double feature, and it turned out well as both drew strong openings. However, Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" came out on top, grossing $162 million domestically for its opening weekend, per figures from Box Office Mojo.

Based on the Mattel line of dolls, "Barbie" was bolstered by strong reviews, with a 90% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film also has a high audience score of 87%. Directed by Gerwig and starring Oscar-nominated actress Margot Robbie, the new film explores Barbie entering the real world with her boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling), and high jinks ensue.

The film also drew solid box office numbers overseas as well, drawing an estimated $194 million overseas for a worldwide grand total of about $382 million. The film has a reported budget of $145 million. The film also now has the No. 1 box office opening weekend of the year, topping "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" released in April.

"Barbie" has finally delivered Warner Bros. a bonafide theatrical hit, which it has been bereft of for quite some time. DC's "The Flash" became a major box office and money loser for the studio. Recent superhero releases such as "Black Adam" and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" also did subpar business for the studio. Ironically, it was Barbie of all characters that salvaged what has been a disappointing summer for the studio.

While "Barbie" won the weekend, Nolan's latest feature, "Oppenheimer," also drew a strong opening, coming in at $82 million for its domestic take. The film also brought in $114 million overseas to bring its current worldwide total to $209 million.  "Oppenheimer" also received strong reviews from critics, with its current score at 94% on the Tomatometer, and a 93% audience score.

"Oppenheimer" actually opened much higher than Nolan's last pre-pandemic release, "Dunkirk," which opened in July 2017 to $50.5 million. The film went on to finish with $188 million domestically and $525 million worldwide. "Interstellar" opened to about $47.5 million in November 2014. "Oppenheimer" stands to outgross both of those films. Its budget is also comparatively smaller than many of the other big summer releases at about $100 million.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming success "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" didn't leave a ton of room open for Cruise's "Mission: Impossible" sequel. "Dead Reckoning Part One" plummeted to third place in its second weekend, dropping a scary 64.6 percent to finish with only $19.3 million and a total of $118.6 million domestic. While "Dead Reckoning Part One" still has time to earn back its exorbitant budget, a large dropoff in its second weekend isn't a great sign, especially in a crowded summer movie season.

"Oppenheimer" taking over many of the premium film formats that "Dead Reckoning" opened on earlier likely didn't help the sequel. That is the main reason why the film came out on a Wednesday rather than a Friday, to get more screen time for the film on those larger, more expensive premium formats, such as IMAX and Dolby Cinema.

The Angel Studios release, "Sound of Freedom," continued to do well in its third weekend, bringing in another $19.8 million and dropping only 27.3% to bring its current domestic total to $124.4 million.

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" came in at No. 5 with $6.7 million and its current domestic total stands at approximately $158.9 million and about $336 million worldwide.

"Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" are both out now in theaters.