‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, two of the most anticipated films released in years, premiered on Friday and made history by earning the 4th largest box office weekend ever in the US.
There was a great deal of internet hype and discussion prior to their release with many a meme arising to mark the stark contrast between the two movies and giving rise to the hashtag, Barbenheimer.
The two movies could not be further apart - Barbie a fantasy comedy by Greta Gerwif about the fashion doll Barbie, and Oppenheimer - an intense biographical drama by Christopher Nolan about physicist J.Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project, the institution responsible for the development of the first nuclear weapons during World War II.
Many cinema chains reported Sunday that customers had purchased tickets to see both films following the social-media-inspired movement.
The two films have received widespread acclaim and exceeded box office expectations with Barbie earning the top spot.
According to Film Magic News #Barbenheimer “ made about $511 million worldwide, $235.5 million of which was earned domestically—enough to make this the fourth-highest grossing weekend in American history, and the only one of those four weekends not driven by a Disney-released sequel.”
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Sky News reports that the UK cinema chain, Vue International, had its biggest weekend for ticket sales in four years following the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.
Tim Richards, chief executive and founder of Vue International, said: "Barbie is tracking to become the biggest film of 2023 and has a good chance of getting into the Top 10 highest-grossing films of all time".
