Barbie and Oppenheimer break Australian box office records on opening weekend

The release of Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer on July 20 combined for the highest grossing weekend in Australia since April 2019 when Marvel's Avengers: Endgame opened.

In Australia, Barbie was the opening weekend winner earning $19.5 million in Australia compared to Oppenheimer with $9.4 million, according to Numero BoxOffice.

Barbie netted Australia's biggest opening haul of the year from The Super Mario Bros. Movie and worldwide was the biggest opening in history for a female director.

Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia executive director Lori Flekser said it was one of the biggest weekends in cinema history both locally and globally.

"The incredible Australian performance of Barbie and Oppenheimer, together with strong holdovers from the school holidays, has propelled the local box office to its best weekend since April 2019," she said.

"Pervasive social media campaigns have driven high levels of awareness and cinema-going for these films, with massive ticket pre-sales for opening weekend."

Globally Barbie exceeded $500 million at the box office and Oppenheimer $258 million.

The total weekend box office is estimated at more than $34 million - the second or third highest Thursday to Sunday weekend ever in Australia.

Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23 were the highest grossing respective days in history at the Australian box office.

National Association Of Cinema Operators executive director Cameron Mitchell said Barbenheimer was the "perfect example of the power and passion of cinema".

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"There's a genuine fear of missing out that's driving guests to see these audience favourites that are being debated and discussed in offices and loungerooms around the country," he said.

Oppenheimer, based on the true story of developing the first atomic bomb, has exceeded expectations in Australia, Mr Mitchell said.

"The national weekend gross was driven by enormous interest in cinema thanks to incredibly persuasive marketing campaigns and further fuelled by the Barbenheimer phenomenon," he said.

"Worth noting as well, is that Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning is still performing to great reviews, grossing [$550 million] globally since its recent release."

Mr Mitchell said the films had "smashed industry expectations".

"The films were coincidentally released on the same day yet couldn't be more different," he said.

"Oppenheimer and Christopher Nolan are film fanatic favourites skewing heavily male, whereas Barbie unsurprisingly skewed female globally. Both films were rated above 90 by Rotten Tomatoes."

More than two million cinema tickets were sold in Australia on the weekend.

In the US it was the third or fourth highest grossing in history behind Avengers: Endgame (2019), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

Mr Mitchell said the weekend followed a strong first six months of 2023 at the Australian box office which is expected to reach $1 billion for the year, with a strong line-up of films yet to open.

He said Aussie cinema goers could look forward to films including Dune: Part Two, Wonka and Anyone But You - the romantic comedy filmed in Sydney starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.

"When benchmarked against international ticket prices and wage levels, cinema ticket prices in Australia are one of the lowest in the world, which when mixed with exceptional content, is assisting in driving attendance to the diverse slate that can be seen in cinemas weekly," Mr Mitchell said.

"With the streaming companies Apple and Amazon recently both committing to invest [$1.5 billion] annually in making and promoting films for cinema, cinema is destined to remain the favourite cultural activity in Australia."