Oppenheimer surpasses Barbie for the first time in six weeks at the box office

Since their release on 21 July, Oppenheimer and Barbie have seen constant comparisons despite the two movies being of far different genres.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie had consistently beaten out competition from Nolan’s masterpiece when it came to box office earnings, proving to be tough competition for Oppenheimer and has largely topped box office charts.

It recently became the highest grossing Warner Bros. movie of all time, surpassing the $1.342 billion mark set by Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows- Part 2. Furthermore, it can be expected to cross over The Super Mario Bros. Movie any day to become the highest-grossing movie of 2023.

Regardless, while Barbie leads comprehensively in overall earnings, week 6 of the two movies’ release saw Oppenheimer outearn the pink spectacle.

Oppenheimer outearns Barbie globally in week 6

The two movies have been consistently compared in recent weeks. However, when it came to box office earnings, Barbie has been the clear winner.

Nolan’s spectacle has currently grossed slightly less than $800 million at the box office. However, its’ week 6 earnings saw a spike due to multiple reasons.

Firstly, the movie was recently released in both Italy and Greece, which has contributed to global earnings. Week 6 saw Oppenheimer earn $38.1 million globally. Barbie followed closely behind with earnings of $35.3 million.

The next few weeks are set to result in a further increase in revenue for Oppenheimer.

The movie was released in China on 30 August which has also added to its earnings globally. Christopher Nolan recently visited China in order to promote his film, a move that can be expected to further increase prospective earnings.

While Nolan's movie lags behind when it comes to overall earnings, it has still broken multiple records. Last week saw the movie gross $8.2 million in North America.

This represents a 23% decrease, which was in part due to the special $4 pricing on National Cinema day. However, the movie also experienced earnings of a whopping $30.7 million in the International market, which was the reason behind its rise to the number 1 slot.

The rivalry between Barbie and Oppenheimer created a cultural phenomenon known as "Barbenheimer," wherein the competition between the two films generated viral memes, online chatter, and a surge of interest in both movies. This has resulted in the sustained global success of both films.

Regardless, there is little doubt that both movies have enjoyed worldwide success, and are still continuing to do so.