My, how the turn tables. After a lackluster summer in which big tentpole releases like The Flash and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny failed to generate many ticket sales, the July 20-23 frame exploded with two enormous hits that couldn’t be further from each other regarding style and audience — Greta Gerwig’s hilarious comedy Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s incredible dark drama Oppenheimer.
Which of these stories is more impressive? Take your pick.
Barbie trampled all expectations en route to an eye-popping $155M 3-day opening, the biggest of 2023, even outpacing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Wow. Worldwide, per Deadline, the Margot Robbie/Ryan Gosling comedy hauled in $337M after accruing $182M from 69 international markets. According to the trade, 71% of Barbie’s audience was women.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Nolan’s Oppenheimer, an R-rated, 3-hour drama, exploded to an $80.5M start, following a $33M Friday, and a $25.8M Saturday. Those are superhero numbers, folks, and the third-best showing for Nolan behind The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises and far ahead of Inception ($62M) and his most recent film, Tenet ($20M). Oppenheimer collected $174.3M worldwide, earning $93.7M from 78 international markets. And wouldn’t you know it? Men comprised 65% of Oppenheimer’s audience.
So, what gives? A few weeks ago, the conversation centered around the dilapidated state of the global box office. Nearly every release except Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse faltered, resulting in enormous bombs like The Flash and Indiana Jones. Even last week’s highly regarded Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One left pundits scratching their heads after the lackluster $54M opening weekend.
Barbie/Oppenheimer craze was always expected to do well, but not this well. Clearly, audiences are more picky about what they spend their hard-earned money on these days and held tight until this weekend to head out to cinemas in droves. Both films were well-regarded by critics and earned stellar A CinemaScores from audiences, which bodes well for their long-term trajectories.
That still doesn’t explain why Dead Reckoning hasn’t lived up to the hype. Tom Cruise’s latest drew rave reviews from everyone but collapsed under the might of Barbenheimer, dipping 62% in its second weekend for a $21M 3-day gross. So far, the seventh chapter has earned $120M domestically and $370M worldwide. (Indiana Jones, by contrast, has earned just $335M worldwide after three weeks.) This one still probably reaches decent numbers by the end of its run, but those (like me) expecting a Top Gun bump were very wrong.
The immense competition doesn’t help. Dead Reckoning only had a week on large-screen formats before Oppenheimer stole its thunder. In hindsight, Cruise should have opened his flick in April or later this year in October rather than tackle two high-profile pics head-on. Or, the lesson here is that audiences crave original properties like Barbie and Oppenheimer after over a decade’s worth of endless superhero sequels. Nearly every film that collapsed at the box office this summer was another chapter in a long-running franchise, a remake, or a carbon copy of something audiences have already seen. Moviegoing isn’t dead, audiences are simply more selective about what they see.
Also, it helps to have a weekend that offers solid counter-programming targeting both demographics. Moreover, both Barbie and Oppenheimer embraced each other and leaned on the dynamic contrast, making one massive event from two very different films.
Speaking of hits, Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom continues to defy the odds, grossing $20M (-27%) in its third weekend for an astonishing $124.6M total. Remember, the Jim Caviezel drama cost just $14M to produce, which means somebody is really happy.
In other news, Disney/Pixar’s Elemental turned things around following its disappointing opening. The (very good) animated comedy has legged it out to a respectable $137M domestic, $219M internationally, and $356M worldwide. No, this one won’t turn any heads, but it’s no longer a colossal flop on par with Lightyear ($218M).
This week sees the release of Disney’s The Haunted Mansion remake, which should walk away with a decent haul but probably isn’t powerful enough to bring down Barbie or Oppenheimer. But, at this point, who knows?
Domestic Box Office Results:
- Barbie (WB) 4,243 theaters, Fri $70.5M, 3-day $150M/Wk 1
- Oppenheimer (Uni) 3,610 theaters Fri $33M, 3-day $77M/Wk 1
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Par) 4,321 (-6) theaters, Fri $5.56M (-67%), 3-day $21M (-62%), Total $120.2M/Wk 2
- Sound of Freedom (Angel) 3,285 (+20) theaters, Fri $5.4M (-28%) 3-day $20M (-27%), Total $124.6M/Wk 3
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Dis) 2,885 (-980) theaters, Fri $1.9M (-42%) 3-day $7M (-43%)/Total $159.3M/Wk 4
- Insidous: The Red Door (Sony/Blum) 2,554 (-634) theaters Fri $2M (-51%) 3-day $6.5M (-50%)/Total $71M/Wk 3
- Elemental (Dis) 2,720 (-515) theaters, Fri $1.8M (-30%) 3-day $6.2M (-31%), Total $137.6M/Wk 6
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony) 1,669 (-908) theaters, Fri $855K (-50%) 3-day $2.9M (-52%) Total $375.2M /Wk 8
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Par) 834 (-1,207) theaters, Fri $311K (-68%) 3-day $1.1M (-67%) Total $155.6M/Wk 7
- No Hard Feelings (Sony) 1,017 (-1036) theaters, Fri $345K (-65%) 3-day $1.08M (-67%), Total $49.2M /Wk 5
