'Barbenheimer' spurs fourth-biggest box-office weekend ever
Hector Vivas/Getty Images Entertainment
The unlikely combination of Barbie (NASDAQ:WBD) and Oppenheimer (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had an explosive impact on the box office on the last big release weekend of the summer -- a stark turnaround from a summer of big-budget letdowns at the movies.
The two films' success, fed in part by a few hundred thousand social media-savvy moviegoers setting up an unlikely double-picture viewing, made the weekend the fourth-best in industry history in the final tally, at just over $311M.
Barbie -- the winking comedy centered on the iconic doll from toymaker Mattel (MAT) -- opened with a stellar $162M at domestic theaters including final Sunday numbers, according to Comscore, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie (CMCSA) for the year's best opening. The weekend result was beyond even optimistic expectations on the high side.
It's also the biggest domestic opening for a female-directed film ever, and the biggest opening weekend for a movie based on a toy, as well as Warner's biggest non-sequel, non-DC opener.
Meanwhile, Oppenheimer (CMCSA), the somber reflection on the creation of the atomic bomb, hit $82.5M when it had been expected to reach perhaps $50M (and its own studio, Universal, tried to dampen expectations with a $40M forecast). It's become the biggest global opening weekend for a biographical picture.
It's the first time a pair of films have combined for $100M-plus and $50M-plus openings.
That puts "Barbenheimer" weekend up among movie history's best domestically: Domestic theaters' $311M was only surpassed by the weekends that featured openings of Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And not by much: Endgame led a weekend that ended up at $402.1M domestically, while second-best was Infinity War's weekend, with $314.8M.
Barbie added another $182M internationally, marking the best industry opening of the year in 18 markets, Comscore noted (and the best opening for a Warner Bros. (WBD) film in 16 markets). All told the film has piled up $337M worldwide in the few days it's been open.
Oppenheimer added another $93.7M internationally to land at $174.2M globally.
"Barbenheimer" didn't leave room for many other stories at the movies, but also notable was the weekend's third-place film: The modestly budgeted human-trafficking story Sound of Freedom (Angel Studios), which grossed another $20.1M, edging the significantly bigger Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One (NASDAQ:PARA) (PARAA), which shed a hefty 64% from its opening weekend to land at $19.5M in weekend two.
Sound of Freedom has run for three weeks to Mission: Impossible's two, but it's a bona fide hit and so far has made more money (a cumulative domestic take of $124.7M vs. Mission: Impossible's $118.8M).
Dead Reckoning Part One (PARA) (PARAA) catches up more when considering it has an international audience: The film added another $55M overseas to land a $74.5M global weekend.
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).
More on the box office

'Barbenheimer' arrives with promise of $200M movie-ticket weekend
New 'Mission: Impossible' draws $235M worldwide in opening
Is saving the 2023 summer box office an impossible mission?
Hollywood actors go on strike, setting up historic entertainment shutdown
Box office in 2023: Disney, Universal duke it out while Warner lags