‘Barbie”s record-breaking debut at cinemas over the weekend landed higher than initial estimates with $162 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada, distributor Warner Bros said on Monday.
The final Friday to Sunday tally for the ‘Barbie‘ movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling was slightly higher than the $155 million the studio estimated on Sunday.
‘Barbie‘ is the No.1 movie of the year based on domestic opening weekend sales, beating the $146.4 million haul for April release ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie.’
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Director Greta Gerwig’s take on the Mattel Inc doll also added $194.3 million in 63 international markets for a global debut of $356.3 million.
‘Barbie‘ faced off against director Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer‘ in a box office battle dubbed ‘Barbenheimer.’
Final numbers also rose for ‘Oppenheimer.’ The story of the making of the atomic bomb brought in $82.4 million in the United States and Canada from Friday through Sunday, up from the earlier estimate of $80.5 million.
In 78 international markets, ‘Oppenheimer‘ collected nearly $98.0 million for a global total of $180.4 million.
Both movies beat expectations and helped the U.S. and Canadian box office surpass $300 million for just the fourth time in history.
Cinemas around the world were busier than ever over the weekend, thanks to the simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer, with excitement for Gerwig and Christopher Nolan’s respective blockbusters going into overdrive.
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While Oppenheimer’s critical ratings have blown past Barbie with a near-perfect Rotten Tomato score, the latter, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has surpassed the Cillian Murphy-starring biopic’s box office takings.
In a new interview with The Independent, Nolan described Oppenheimer as “the biggest film I’ve made”. Murphy admitted to struggling to watch the film due to seeing his face projected on the screen, but acknowledged that the film is “designed” to be “watched with an audience”.
Meanwhile, Gerwig has spoken about her film’s “mic drop” ending, after breaking the record for the biggest box office debut by a female director.