The ‘Barbenheimer’ fever is on as two of the biggest movies of the week — Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Barbie’ and Universal Pictures’ ‘Oppenheimer’ — brought moviegoers back to theaters in the Philippines and broke records on its first few days.
Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie,’ starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, arrived in theaters globally to a record-shattering $337 million worldwide, taking in $182 million in international markets and $155 million in the U.S., and counting. The announcement was made by Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, and Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution, for Warner Bros. Pictures. In the Philippines, it went straight to #1 spot for the week.
As for the highly-anticipated and much-praised latest masterpiece of Christopher Nolan, ‘Oppenheimer’ ignited a big bang at the Philippine box office with P57.7 million in just five days. It also recorded the highest-grossing IMAX release for the year. In spite of its R-16 rating from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and having a limited market share, the first weekend box-office reflects a 650% increase in initial forecast that’s above most optimistic targets and is poised to reach P100M and beyond in the next days or weeks.
READ MORE: All characters of ‘Barbie the Movie’ get their own posters
Record-breaking ‘Barbie’
Swept in on a wave of social memes and sell-out shows, “Barbie” sailed into international theaters beginning Wednesday July 19, and took the #1 spot in 55 markets, including the Philippines where it also broke records. It now holds the local record for the biggest Warner Bros. opening weekend for the year and during the COVID era, and the biggest opening weekend locally for director Gerwig and Gosling, who plays Ken.
Propelled by massive anticipation and widespread critical praise, “Barbie” has scored well with audiences, earning an A audience score and a 90% audience rating from Rotten Tomatoes. The Robbie-led film about the classic doll was a hit with critics as well, with a 90% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing.
“The massive, overwhelming response we’ve seen out there proves what we’ve known from the beginning: that ‘Barbie’ is not only an incredibly special film, but clearly the theatrical event of the summer, if not the year,” said Warner Brothers’ Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution. “Greta, Margot, Ryan and the entire ‘Barbie’ team have delivered exactly the kind of fun, transporting theatrical experience that audiences everywhere have been craving, as they continue to demonstrate in numbers we haven’t seen since before the pandemic. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of it, and congratulate everyone involved in this brilliant labor of love.”
Added Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures: “The incredible results we’ve seen across every releasing market is a testament to not only Greta’s singular vision but the cross-generational impact of Mattel’s iconic creation all over the world. Everything about this film – from its cotton candy-pink wit to the warm-hearted optimism at its core – is engaging with people of all ages in a powerful way, as the long lines at theaters and massive excitement on social media continue to attest. Greta Gerwig and her remarkable cast and crew have delivered absolutely the right film at the right time, and with word-of-mouth and repeat business this strong, that momentum is likely to continue well into the year.”
“Barbie” is now showing exclusively in cinemas.
Explosive ‘Oppenheimer’ on IMAX and regular cinemas
Fiery from its first five days of release in the Philippines, it grossed P19.018M alone in just 9 IMAX screens, now making it the highest-grossing IMAX release for 2023. From regular 2D screens it hauled another P38.74M cinemas nationwide. This makes it now the 2nd Biggest Saturday Opening for a Universal Pictures release (next to Fast X and ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie). It has also solidified its place here as the 3rd Biggest Weekend Opening for a Christopher Nolan film, after The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight, but ahead of Batman Begins.
Best seen in IMAX, Christopher Nolan has strongly advocated for the big screen experience for all of his films. The filmmaker who pushed the limits of cinematic storytelling to tell epic stories about unlikely heroes and audacious schemes that examine the necessity, morality, and hubris of ambitious endeavor has successfully engaged the worldwide audience once again in his latest immersive cinematic work in Oppenheimer.
READ MORE: ‘Oppenheimer’ review: Epic, hypnotic, explosive masterpiece
Oppenheimer is an IMAX®-shot epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it. The film gathers together an extraordinary and massive cast that includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Benny Safdie and Josh Peck.
The film was shot exclusively with large format cameras—Panavision® 65mm and IMAX® 65mm. “What large-format photography gives you is clarity, first and foremost,” says Nolan. “It’s a format that allows the audience to become fully immersed in the story and in the reality that you’re taking them to. In the case of Oppenheimer, it’s a story of great scope and great scale and great span.”
“What I wanted to do was take the audience into the mind and the experience of a person who sat at the absolute center of the largest shift in history,” concludes Nolan. “Like it or not, J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived. He made the world we live in, for better or for worse. And his story must be seen to be believed.”
From Universal Pictures International, Oppenheimer is now showing nationwide in 227 cinemas.
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