‘Oppenheimer’ Global Box Office Debut Set to Nearly Double Projections
Everybody wildly underestimated the sheer power of “Barbenheimer.” Billed as one of the biggest double bills in recent memory, this weekend sees an epic face-off between director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. And as expected, Barbie is leading the race both at the domestic and worldwide box office. But even though it’s coming in second, Oppenheimer is also exceeding expectations by a huge margin.
Heading into the weekend, the three-hour biographical drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer, best known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” was expected to make around $50 million stateside and around $100 million globally by Sunday. But after the movie grossed $33 million at the domestic box office on opening day, including $10 million from previews, weekend projections have been raised to over $77 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is expected to generate a little under $90 million from 78 international territories over the weekend, for a projected worldwide debut of $165 million by Sunday.
While positive audience and critical reception certainly played a key part in pushing both movies to such fabulous figures — Oppenheimer received an A CinemaScore from opening day audiences and is currently sitting at a “fresh” 93% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes — nobody can overlook the masterful marketing strategies at play here. What might have admittedly started as a game of chicken turned into a great example of free publicity, which increased awareness not only among cinephiles, but crucially, average moviegoers as well. Over time, “Barbenheimer” became what studios dream of; an event. While Gerwig’s pull has only increased with each passing movie, Nolan remains one of few remaining directors with the power to not only get unprecedented creative freedom, but also to draw audiences to theaters purely on goodwill.
Image via Universal
RELATED: It’s Actually Genius That ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ Are Premiering on the Same Day
In his legendary career, Nolan has directed two movies — The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises — that have grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Even the seemingly challenging science-fiction movies Inception and Interstellar ended up making around $800 million worldwide each. He also holds the distinction of having directed the highest-grossing World War II movie of all time, Dunkirk ($527 million worldwide), but his last release, the science-fiction espionage film Tenet, essentially bombed at the peak of the pandemic with just over $360 million worldwide against a budget of more than $200 million.
This Marks Another Win for Universal in 2023
Starring Cillian Murphy in the central role, Oppenheimer is said to have cost $100 million, which means that Universal is going to make a big profit on the picture in its first-ever collaboration with Nolan. Universal experienced success earlier this year with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Fast X. Nolan severed ties with home studio Warner Bros. amid the pandemic, reportedly in protest of the studio’s controversial release strategy that saw each of its 2021 movies debut simultaneously on streaming and theaters. But latest reports suggest that W.B. is trying to court him to return, which seems like an interesting twist. Oppenheimer features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon and others. You can watch our interview with Nolan here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Source: Collider
