Australian cinemas have recorded their biggest opening weekend since before COVID-19 following the release of Oppenheimer and Barbie.
Australian cinemas have recorded their biggest opening weekend since before the pandemic thanks to the simultaneous release of the greatly anticipated Oppenheimer and Barbie.
Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig—a feminist satire starring the iconic fashion doll of the same name—made $21.5m nationally and $155m globally on its opening weekend, surpassing The Super Mario Bros Movie as the biggest release of 2023.
In stark contrast to Barbie’s hot pink, silly and sentimental tone, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a three-hour biographical drama based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who spearheaded the creation of the atomic bomb.
It grossed $9.36m across Australia and $80.5m internationally, double the projected ticket sales for the film.
Regional cinemas across the country have reported audiences of more than four times their usual weekend turnout.
The film’s shared release date has been a significant factor in their overwhelming success which has been dubbed “the Barbenheimer Effect”.
Essentially, memes spread online poking fun at the juxtaposition between the two films releasing on the same day, with dedicated filmgoers deciding that they would just have to watch the highly anticipated films consecutively.
This viral marketing contributed to the massive hype around both films, with many people planning their own Barbenheimer events in which they would attend both films.
Similar jokes spread through the gaming community back in March 2020, when the unlikely, highly anticipated duo of Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons released on the same day.
Both movie and gaming studios typically plan releases strategically, often to avoid direct competition with media of a similar genre, a key factor in why we see such distinctly different films sharing release dates.
However, there’s something to be said for how many people have expressed their enthusiasm for both movies.
The Barbenheimer effect could suggest that maybe a gritty, historical drama is more palatable to a broad audience when it’s followed by scenes of Margot Robbie tackling gender inequality in rollerskates and pink cowboy pants.
