HOUSTON — "Barbie" fans will probably be tickled pink to know the summer blockbuster attracted nearly twice as many moviegoers as "Oppenheimer" in their weekend debuts.
Both Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie ” and Christopher Nolan’s “ Oppenheimer ” brought moviegoers back to the theaters in record numbers, easily outperforming projections.
Warner Bros.’ visually stunning celebration of Mattel's most popular toy ever raked in a whopping $155 million in ticket sales from North American theaters, breaking the first-weekend record for a film directed by a woman.
“It’s just a joyous time in the world. This is history in so many ways," Warner Bros.' Jeff Goldstein gushed. “I think this marketing campaign is one for the ages that people will be talking about forever.”
The polar opposite biographical drama about the "Father of the Atomic Bomb" had $80.5 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada.
Some moviegoers enjoyed a double feature of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." Leading up to the opening weekend, AMC reported over 40,000 people had already bought advance tickets for both movies on the same day.
Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” scored well with critics with 90% and 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively, and audiences who gave both films an A CinemaScore.
'Barbenheimer' map
Breaking it down by state-by-state, "Barbie" generated more buzz than "Oppenheimer" in 38 out of 50 states, according to geotagged Twitter data in the weeks leading up to the movies' debuts.
Count Texas in the Barbieland pink category.
Breaking it down by state-by-state, "Barbie" generated more buzz than "Oppenheimer" in 38 out of 50 states, according to geotagged Twitter data in the weeks leading up to the movies' debuts.
Projectorscreens.com used software to track 600,000 tweets over 30 days, along with hashtags and direct word keyword phrases. Keywords included things like #BarbieMovie, #BarbieTheMovie, #TheBarbieMovie, "watch Barbie," "bought tickets for Barbie," and "excited for Barbie" or #Oppenheimer, #OppenheimerMovie, "watch Oppenheimer," and "excited for Oppenheimer."
