‘Barbie’ wins at the box office ahead of 'Oppenheimer' in historic 'Barbieheimer' moviegoing weekend
The film, starring Margot Robbie and directed by Greta Gerwig, is also the best domestic opening for a movie directed by a woman.
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Audiences are happy to be living in a "Barbie" world.
The movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, dominated the weekend box office, earning $155 million, beating expectations for a $90 to $110 million debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
According to the outlet, "Barbie" is also doing well overseas, pulling in $182 million from 70 markets, giving the movie a $337 million dollar worldwide gross.
With a $155 million opening weekend, "Barbie" is officially the biggest debut of the year, surpassing "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and every Marvel movie released this year thus far.
"Barbie," starring Margot Robbie, earned $155 million in its opening weekend. (Warner Bros. Pictures)
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"Barbie" set another record as well, marking the biggest domestic opening for a movie directed by a woman, with Oscar-winning writer and director Greta Gerwig behind the lens. That title had previously been held by Anna Boden, alongside Ryan Fleck, for 2019’s "Captain Marvel," and earlier by "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins.
"Oppenheimer," directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, earning $80.5 million for a second place finish.
Variety reported that box off analysts predicted the movie would only earn around $50 million, due to the serious subject matter and three-hour runtime.
Cillian Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer in "Oppenheimer," about the scientist behind the creation of the atomic bomb. "Oppenheimer" came in second place at the weekend box office, behind "Barbie." (Universal Pictures / AP Newsroom)
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Both movies benefited from the cultural phenomenon known as "Barbenheimer," and many movie goers opted to see both movies in their opening weekend.
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research spoke with Variety, saying "This is an unequivocally great weekend for moviegoing. ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ are complementing each other at the box office, not taking audience from each other."
Rounding out the top five slots are Angel Studios’ "Sound of Freedom," the independently produced film about child trafficking starring Jim Caviezel, earning $20 million, just ahead of Tom Cruise’s "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One," taking fourth $19.5 million in its second week of release, according to Box Office Mojo.
Jim Caviezel stars in "Sound of Freedom," based on real life anti-child trafficking advocate Tim Ballard, which just barely beat out Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible" sequel for third place at this week's box office. (Angel Studios/ 'The Sound of Freedom' / Fox News)
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In fifth place is "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," taking in $6.7 million.