Warner Bros./Universal
- "Barbie" appears to be blowing up "Oppenheimer" at the box office on their opening weekends.
- Greta Gerwig's comedy is headed for a $155 million US opening, with "Oppenheimer" on $77 million.
- Some 200,000 people reportedly booked for "Barbenheimer" to see both films on the same day.
"Barbie" looks like it's blowing "Oppenheimer" out of the water this weekend as movie fans flock to see Margot Robbie play Mattel's plastic doll, although it seems both films are doing even better than their studios had hoped.
According to studio projections seen by The Hollywood Reporter, Greta Gerwig's film is heading for a $155 million domestic opening weekend, while Christopher Nolan's atomic bomb epic is set to take $77 million.
Internationally, "Barbie" is eyeing an additional $120 million to bring the total to $275 million, while "Oppenheimer" is expected to take in $89 million for a $166 million tally.
That means the first outing in the "Mattel Cinematic Universe" will outstrip Nolan by more than $100 million.
It also means Gerwig now appears to have bagged the highest opening weekend for a film directed by a woman, overtaking Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman."
"Barbie" cost a reported $145 million to make, plus an estimated $100 million for its elaborate marketing campaign, while "Oppenheimer" reportedly cost $100 million.
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Despite "Barbie's" dominance and reported frustration from Nolan's camp around Warner Bros.' decision to release the film on the same day as Universal Pictures chose for "Oppenheimer," it doesn't look like the scheduling has hurt either movie.
Indeed, "Barbenheimer" has become a social media phenomenon that has seen some moviegoers plan to watch both films back-to-back. According to a survey by the National Association of Theater Owners, 200,000 people booked same-day tickets to "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," per The Associated Press.
Insider's Chris Panella was one who did so – and controversially says seeing "Barbie" first is the correct order. "It's easier to emotionally transition from 'Barbie' into "Oppenheimer" than the other way around. Ending on 'Barbie' might seem like the correct move ... but you'll be going into the film thinking about nukes and death," he writes.
The "Barbenheimer" mania has helped the two movies to a record-breaking weekend for theaters. It's the first where one title has more than $100 million and another taken more than $50 million in the same three-day period, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The publication said that 68% of "Barbie" viewers were female, while 64% of "Oppenheimer" viewers were male.
Despite falling behind "Barbie" in the box office, "Oppenheimer" appears to have won the battle among critics. The World War Two film has a score of 89 on Metacritic based on 63 critic reviews, compared to a score of 80 for "Barbie."
It's the same on Rotten Tomatoes, where "Oppenheimer" has a staggering 94% rating on both its Tomatometer and Audience Score, although "Barbie" still has an impressive 90% for both measures.