Record-Breaking Weekend at the Box Office as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” Take the Top Spots

This weekend, moviegoers flocked to theaters in record numbers to see two very different films: Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer”. The social media-fueled fusion of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” gave a glimmer of hope to the lagging exhibition business, amid the sobering backdrop of strikes.

The phenomenon had movie-goers celebrating the release of two very different movies — the pink drenched “Barbie” movie and and the WWII period piece “Oppenheimer” — in the same weekend. “Barbie” claimed the top spot with a massive $155 million in ticket sales from North American theaters from 4,243 locations, surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (as well as every Marvel movie this year) as the biggest opening of the year and breaking the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman.

“Oppenheimer” also soared past expectations, taking in $80.5 million from 3,610 locations. The movie, which is about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led U.S. efforts to create the atomic bomb, placed second for the weekend of July 21-23.

The success of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” shows that moviegoers are still eager to return to theaters, despite the pandemic. The two films combined for a total of $235.5 million, which is a testament to the power of the box office. “Barbenheimer” didn’t just work – it spun box office gold.