How much did Barbie and Oppenheimer make in their respective domestic previews?

Barbenheimer has taken the world by storm as Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig's Barbie made their domestic previews on Thursday, July 20, 2023. The films had their worldwide premieres on Friday, July 21, 2023. The biggest movie-going weekend of 2023 resulted in a huge turnup at the multiplexes.

In a race in which Barbie is clearly winning, the film managed to earn $22.3 million at the domestic box office in the previews on Thursday. Meanwhile, Nolan's Oppenheimer made shy of $10.5 million in previews which left it trailing while it opened for release at midnight.

In the world of the cinema business, domestic preview screenings offer a glimpse into the potential box office success of a film before its official release. Thus, before jumping into any predictions or projections, it becomes mandatory to take a look at the domestic previews of both films.

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Barbie takes the spotlight leaving Oppenheimer behind in domestic previews

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Jon Watts's Spider-Man: No Way Home has been the biggest box office weekend with a domestic earning of $283 million. As the dual release of two big-budget blockbusters set the term Barbenheimer for movie-goers, the opening weekend only witnessed sold-out multiplexes and fans in pink and black attire.

Warner Bros.’ Barbie hit back with $21.2 million domestic box office earnings on Thursday. With this, the film beat the $17.5 million made by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. to become the summer hit everybody has been waiting for.

Barbie made $1.1M from Wednesday previews which were held at 500 locations. Greta Gerwig's directorial venture was expected to make around $100 million in its opening weekend. However, the movie is looking at $140 million with the recent domestic earnings in the US and Canada owing to its marketing strategies that drew crowds to the theatres worldwide.

Prior to the mega release, Barbie Blowout Parties were held at 500 locations on Wednesday, June 19, 2023. The film was released domestically in the United States at 3,400 screens and the screenings started at 3 pm on Thursday, July 20, 2023. Margot Robbie's Barbie was released worldwide on Friday with 9000 screens showcasing the film. This included premium large-format auditoriums, Dolby theatres, Dine-Ins, and Drive-ins.

Oppenheimer, on the other hand, made a modest $10.5 million. Now, the question of which film ends up becoming the box office frontrunner remains. Oppenheimer has performed well in terms of Nolan movies and is projected to make $75 million instead of the initial estimate of $50 million. It is set to surpass Nolan's last release Dunkirk (2017), which earned $50.5 million in its opening weekend.

Cillian Murphy's Oppenheimer owns a three-week exclusive run at Imax theatres. The domestic previews for the film in the United States started at 5 pm on Thursday, June 20, 2023.

While Barbie was shot and produced on a budget of $145 million, Oppenheimer took to a budget of $100 million in total as recently corrected by Universal Pictures. It is to be noted that both the films are comfortably looking at a profit given the pre-sales and box office collections this weekend. The two movies together are reportedly projected to make a combined opening weekend earning of over $308 million.

The last time two films that are so strikingly opposite in genre and happened to release on the same day were The Dark Night and Mamma Mia! in 2008.