When it comes to an internet phenomenon, Barbenheimer is something that no one saw coming in 2023. However, what is Barbenheimer? Well, it’s an internet craze that happened to celebrate the release of two films that couldn’t be more tonally opposite. In one corner we have Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and the other has Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. With both movies being released on the same day, July 21st, cinemas took the chance to put on movie marathons. This weekend fans came out to theaters where fans could watch both movies back to back. If you search online for the Barbenheimer, you will find no end to some of the incredible artwork celebrating the films. It’s amazing to see huge movie companies support each other in this way. This is certainly something that I’d love to see happen again. There was a time when cinemas were in so much danger during the COVID era. Events like this were something that movie-goers thought would never happen again. The Barbenheimer trend has been nothing short of a cinematic celebration.
One question remains for both movies though: “How well have they done at the box office?” With exceptional Rotten Tomatoes scores for each release, a strong financial start was predicted by many. First up, Barbie has had a gigantic opening with $337 million, which in short, is one of the biggest results of the year, and supporting that, Oppenheimer has dropped a money bomb by already making $174 million. For Christopher Nolan, his work on The Dark Knight Rises ended up making the most for him. Greta Gerwig’s biggest box office was with the film Little Women. Looking at the initial box-office reports from over the weekend, it looks like these movies could be the most financially rewarding for both talents, but beyond that, they’ve done something much more special by providing an extremely exciting release phase for moviegoers worldwide. I wonder what the next movie craze similar to this will be? Any guesses?
