Barbenheimer Box Office: 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' Off To Explosive Start In Previews

Los Angeles, July 21 - The Barbenheimer is well and truly arrived after Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" off to explosive starts in the previews at the domestic (North America) box office and are set to blow up opening weekend projections.

The Margot Robbie-led fantasy comedy film, based on the Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel, "Barbie" scored the biggest Thursday previews of 2023 with an excellent $22.3 million, ahead of "Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3's" $17.5 million. It is set to overcome industry projections and is now eyeing a mammoth $140+ million opening weekend launch.



Christopher Nolan's atom bomb movie "Oppenheimer" too is set for a huge weekend after explosive $10.50 million Thursday previews, the biggest ever for Christopher Nolan's original film. The weekend is now projected to finish above $60 million which is much better than earlier projections of $40 million - $50 million.

The combined Thursday preview total of both films is $32.8 million while the opening weekend total of the Barbenheimer clash could well be around $200 million which was earlier projected but still rock solid, to be $150+ million.

Meanwhile, Hollywood trade experts are projecting that the combined domestic 3-day weekend of all the movies might hit $300 million, and if it happens, it will be the first time since "Avengers: EndGame's" weekend debut, and just 4th time in history that domestic box office hits $300 million on a single 3-day weekend.

Stay tuned...