Barbenheimer blows up summer box office records at Cineplex

Cineplex says the dual July 21st release of Barbie and Oppenheimer led to its biggest summer weekend of all time.

The two films — from Warner Bros. and Universal, respectively — are the internet’s latest obsession and have even affectionately been dubbed ‘Barbenheimer.’ It’s a rare instance in which something so uniquely colourful and playful (Greta Gerwig’s Barbie) was released alongside something so dark and chilling (Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer). As a result, the two films have helped raise each other up.

Now, Cineplex says 1.4 million people went to see the films over their opening weekend, with more than 80,000 buying tickets to both. Last week, Cineplex said over 60,000 people had purchased tickets for both films as of July 19th, so at least 20,000 additional tickets were scooped up in the following days.

Altogether, this helped Cineplex bring in more than $19 million in revenue from the two films alone, leading to that weekend being the theatre chain’s second-highest-grossing box office of all time. Of course, this doesn’t include revenue from other recently released popular movies, such as Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Part One and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Barbie, in particular, has performed extremely well, landing the largest opening weekend of 2023 ($337 million USD/$444.2 million CAD globally) and the biggest-ever debut for a female director. Oppenheimer also exceeded expectations with a $174 million USD ($229.4 million CAD) worldwide opening weekend. The success of both films is particularly notable since they don’t belong to a superhero franchise and are instead the distinct creative visions of acclaimed filmmakers.

Cineplex’s lucrative weekend comes as the company faces a lawsuit from Canada’s Competition Bureau over the $1.50 online booking fee it quietly introduced last year. Last week, competition commissioner Matthew Boswell reiterated accusations that this charge is misleading, while Cineplex argues it’s clearly displayed on its website and in its mobile app.

Image credit: Warner Bros., Universal

Via: CTV News