Barbie and Oppenheimer Day 5 update: Which film is leading the race?

The box office race between the two highly anticipated and celebrated films, Barbie and Oppenheimer, has entered its sixth day. As industry analysts and fans dig in to monitor the earnings, it becomes imperative to understand who is winning the Barbenheimer competition.

It is no surprise that Barbie has taken the lead over worldwide box offices given its publicity campaigns and advertising, collecting over $200 million in North America alone. However, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer comes in a close second, with it performing well in Southeast Asian countries like India.

Oppenheimer, the biopic based on American Prometheus, has made an estimated $100 million in the United States and Canada. In this article, we shall take a closer look at the box office earnings up to day 5 of the two movies competing at domestic and international theaters.

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Barbie vs. Oppenheimer - Day 5 box office collection

The two films, being of distinct genres with equally captivating storylines, have managed to create the fourth-most profitable cinematic weekend of all time. Moviegoers, regular and occasional, stepped out of their houses to visit their nearest theaters to witness Barbenheimer, thereby making the competition fierce.

Barbie

Greta Gerwig's Barbie, which is based on the popular Mattel toy range, has proven to be a real crowd-pleaser with a roaring reception worldwide. Making the movie the most profitable weekend opener by a female director, surpassing Captain Marvel (2019) and Wonder Woman (2017).

According to numbers revealed by Warner Bros. on July 25, 2023, Barbie has earned $214.1 million in North America and Canada and another $194.3 million from other countries, grossing $408.4 million overall.

Released in 4,243 theaters in the United States, the Margot Robbie starrer was estimated to earn in the range of $90–125 million over the weekend domestically. Furthermore, the movie had a production budget in the range of $128 million to $148 million.

Warner Bros. had initially made a prediction of $75 million for its debut. However, the movie broke even by the opening weekend, with preview earnings of $22.3 million from Wednesday to Thursday and debut earnings of $70.5 million on Friday, July 21, 2023. Barbie grossed a whopping $162 million in the domestic market over the weekend of July 22, 2023, and July 23, 2023, without inflation.

Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is said to have made $95.1 million in the United States and Canada, as per numbers revealed on July 24, 2023, by Universal Pictures. One can expect it to have collected an amount in the ballpark of $100 million to $125 million by day 5. However, things took a surprising turn, and Oppenheimer performed significantly better in the South Asian markets, thereby collecting $114.1 million from the other countries.

Nolan's biographical thriller on The Manhattan Project has grossed $209.2 million worldwide. It had been released in 3,610 theaters and on 19 IMAX screens in the United States. Starting out with a production budget of $100 million, Variety reported that the Cillian Murphy starrer needed to make $400 million to break even. However, this was prior to the clarification of the movie budget by the studios.

Oppenheimer made $82.4 million in its opening weekend being released besides Barbie and approximately $10.5 million in its domestic preview screenings, making it one of the best openings for an R-rated drama.