Barbenheimer, the combination of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, released in India on July 21, creating a significant impact at the box office. According to Sacnilk.com, the two Hollywood films together managed to amass ₹100.6 crore nett in their first week.
After seven days in theaters, Barbenheimer earned ₹27.5 crore nett for Barbie and ₹73.15 crore nett for Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer performed exceptionally well in its initial six days, making ₹67.9 crore nett in India. On the seventh day of release, the film starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who played a pivotal role in developing the atomic bomb, earned ₹5.25 crore nett.
Meanwhile, on the seventh day of its release, Barbie earned ₹2 crore nett, bringing its total week one collection to ₹27.5 crore nett. Greta Gerwig directed the film, featuring Margot Robbie as a ‘stereotypical’ version of the famous doll and Ryan Gosling as Ken.
The success of Barbenheimer is evident from the box office records it shattered. Barbie secured the largest opening of 2023, while Oppenheimer achieved the biggest global opening for a biopic. Together, the films grossed over $511 million worldwide, with $235.5 million coming from the US during the first weekend.
Barbie, as reported by Deadline, surpassed the lifetime grosses of many other female-led movies and holds the record for the largest opening for a female-directed film in the US, surpassing Captain Marvel’s $153.4 million. The film also had the largest grossing day of 2023, earning $70.8 million.
Oppenheimer marked Christopher Nolan’s third-highest-grossing opening weekend ever, both globally and in the US. Additionally, it became the biggest non-superhero opening weekend for Christopher Nolan in 55 markets, including the UK and Ireland, France, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Spain, and Brazil. It also had the biggest opening day for a Christopher Nolan film in 33 markets, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, Netherlands, Argentina, and Belgium. The Barbenheimer duo created a massive impact at the Indian box office, with both films performing exceptionally well individually and setting records in their respective genres.
