The Barbie film has achieved remarkable success, emerging as the biggest film of the year so far in the US and Canada, according to distributor Warner Bros.
It raked in an estimated $155 million (£120 million) during its opening weekend.
In the same weekend, another new release, “Oppenheimer,” distributed by Universal Pictures, made $93.7 million (£72 million) in the US.
These film successes are particularly noteworthy as cinemas have been facing challenges due to competition from streaming platforms.
However, in the UK, both films created a surge in cinema attendance, with Vue reporting its busiest weekend in four years.
The cinema chain, which operates in the UK and Ireland, saw a record number of admissions, with around half a million people flocking to Vue screens to catch the movies. “Barbie,” directed by Greta Gerwig, seems to be on track to become the biggest film of 2023 in the region, surpassing “Super Mario Bros.”
Vue experienced 4,000 sold-out viewings for “Barbie” across the UK and Ireland, further highlighting the film’s popularity and success.
On Twitter, one user said that it had been years since she had felt like going to the theatres to re-watch a movie, but Barbie had achieved that for her. She said it would “remain a timeless masterpiece over the years – ideas really are forever”.
Before the films’ release, Odeon in the UK said more than 200,000 advance tickets had been bought and some 10,000 filmgoers were expected to see both the Barbie and Oppenheimer films during the opening weekend.
Meanwhile, Vue cinema in the UK reported on Friday that Barbie’s pre-sale purchases were “higher than any other blockbuster released this year”. Admissions on Friday were the highest for any Friday since the pandemic – and the chain’s third biggest Friday ever.
Oppenheimer, distributed by Universal Pictures, has performed exceptionally well in the UK and Ireland, grossing £8.05 million since its release on Friday.
The film is expected to surpass the opening three-day earnings of Christopher Nolan’s other blockbuster films, including Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Inception.
However, the premiere of Oppenheimer faced some challenges in July when strike action led stars to leave early due to grievances, including concerns about the increasing influence of artificial intelligence in the filmmaking and writing process in Hollywood.
Internationally, Oppenheimer also achieved success, making $93.7 million (£75 million) in other markets, contributing to a global total of $174.2 million (£135 million), according to Universal Pictures’ reports.