‘Barbenheimer’ a weekend box office winner with record $31.4m ticket sales
The dual-opening of this year’s biggest two blockbusters, Barbie and Oppenheimer, has brought in $31.4 million in ticket sales for the Australian weekend box office – the highest result since the 2019 release of Avengers: Endgame.
According to figures released by Val Morgan, Barbie pulled in over one million admissions from Thursday to Sunday last week, while Oppenheimer delivered 454,000 admits over the weekend.
While 66% of the total audience for Barbie fell within the 14-39s, 78% of Oppenheimer’s audience fell into that age bracket.
Barbie delivered $21.5 million at the box office, which is the highest opening result of the year and the biggest since Spiderman: No Way Home’s release in 2021.
The title has also been crowned the biggest opening weekend for a comedy film, beating out the 12-year-old record set by The Hangover: Part II.
Oppenheimer pulled $9.4 million at the box office, which makes it Nolan’s biggest non-sequel opening and the second-biggest opening for a drama film in Australia.
Guy Burbidge, managing director of Val Morgan Cinema, said: “Barbenheimer has been the biggest cultural moment of 2023. It proves yet again that Cinema has the power to create iconic moments that embed into our culture and resonate for generations.
“Both Barbie and Oppenheimer are setting records locally and globally, we expect their total runs to be nothing short of exceptional.”
The rest of the year will see the release of more highly anticipated titles, including Dune: Part Two, The Marvels, and The Hunger Games prequel.
Speaking to Mumbrella earlier this year, Burbidge said brands cannot afford to overlook cinema as a proven demo-reacher for young, culturally diverse or premium audiences.
Going to the cinema is a cultural event, he said at the time. “[Young people] don’t want to spend an awful lot of time in the house. We see them as light linear TV viewers, and we see a very complementary nature between streaming content and going to the cinema.”
“I think us as a market is obsessed with costs and we’re comparing everything by costs. If you subscribe to the idea that not every impression, CPM, or screen is created equal, then there needs to be a better conversation around understanding what’s really driving brand outcomes and value rather than just headline CPMs.”
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Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
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