Summer hits “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have given the beleaguered film industry a much-needed boost, raising optimism that customers have rediscovered their love for the big screen three years after the epidemic caused cinemas to close.
According to Boxoffice.com, the films grossed a combined $511 million in their opening weekend, citing figures from Warner Bros., the makers of “Barbie,” and Universal Studios, the producers of “Oppenheimer.”
“Barbie” took the top spot, earning $337 million internationally, compared to $174 million for “Oppenheimer.” As a result, the pink-drenched film had the biggest opening weekend of 2023 thus far, as well as the biggest debut by a female filmmaker.
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The box office windfall concludes weeks of strong promotion for both films, notably “Barbie,” director Greta Gerwig’s comedy-cum-existential drama about the iconic doll’s search for meaning and significance, as well as her encounter with sexism in the real world. Burger King in Brazil developed pink sauce for its burgers, Crocs introduced a line of hot pink shoes, and Airbnb constructed a life-sized facsimile of Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse in California for rent.
The contrast with Universal Studios’ “Oppenheimer” couldn’t be more obvious. The film, directed by Christopher Nolan, follows American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s path from child brilliance to director of the United States’ Manhattan Project, where he oversaw the development of the atomic weapon.
However, the unexpected coupling appears to have increased interest in both. Last Monday, AMC (AMC), the world’s largest movie theater chain, said that 60,000 individuals had purchased tickets to watch both films on the same day.
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For movie theaters, which have been battered by low ticket sales and a wave of permanent closures since the outbreak began, the pop culture phenomenon spawned by “Barbenheimer” — helped and abetted by a cottage industry of memes — may be just what the doctor ordered.
“The Barbenheimer phenomenon was the catalyst for something we hadn’t seen in years in this industry: rather than driving the cultural conversation around seeing a movie, it became a global viral campaign around going to the movies,” Boxoffice.com editorial director Daniel Loria told CNN.
According to Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Associations of Theater Owners in the United States, “people recognized that something special was happening, and they wanted to be a part of it.”
The financial impact of the epidemic has been enormous. Cineworld, the world’s second-largest movie theater network and the parent company of Regal Cinemas, declared bankruptcy in September after incurring a $3.3 billion deficit in 2020 and 2021. So far, Cineworld has closed 51 of its Regal movie theaters in the United States.
