(New York) The Summertime Blockbuster Barbiepreceded by an intense marketing campaign, achieved the best North American box office launch of 2023, with $155 million in revenue during a prosperous weekend also marked by the release ofOppenheimer (80.5 million), the specialist firm Comscore announced on Sunday.
The two highly anticipated films should allow cinemas in the United States and Canada to total their best weekend receipts since the COVID-19 pandemic, which dealt a severe blow to cinemas, according to specialized sites The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
Aided by a rosy marketing spree from toy group Mattel, which launched the first Barbie doll in 1959, and production partners Warner Bros, Greta Gerwig’s comedy is doing a better launch than Super Marioinspired by the famous video game character (146 million at the beginning of April), or that the sequel to James Cameron’s Avatar (Avatar: The Way of Water134 million in December 2022).
In a pop and ironic reinterpretation, where dripping pink and sequins are to be taken in the second degree, Barbie, played by Margot Robbie — Ryan Gosling plays Ken — is asked to trade her high heels for Birkenstock sandals to leave her perfect world of Barbie Land and dive into the real world.
According to specialized sites, this is the best launch in North American theaters for a film directed by a woman, ahead of wonder woman by Patty Jenkins (2017) and Captain Marvelco-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (2019).
Oppenheimera biopic by Christopher Nolan about the American physicist who developed the atomic bomb, is also making a very good debut for a 3-hour film, with 80.5 million receipts, according to Comscore.
The simultaneous release of these two highly anticipated films with opposing stories in the middle of summer created a stir among moviegoers, and the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon took hold of social networks. According to the National Association of Theater Owners in the United States, more than 200,000 moviegoers planned to see both films on the same day over the weekend.
Sound of Freedoma controversial child trafficking thriller, rounded out the podium with $20 million, followed by Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning (19.5 million) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (6.7 million).