2023-07-24 05:12:26
The summer blockbuster keeps its promises. Preceded by an intense marketing campaign, “Barbie” achieved the best launch of the year 2023 at the North American box office, with 155 million dollars in revenue during a prosperous weekend also marked by the release of “Oppenheimer” (80.5 million), the specialized firm Comscore announced on Sunday.
The two highly anticipated films should allow cinemas in the United States and Canada to total their best weekend receipts since the Covid-19 pandemic, which dealt a heavy blow to cinemas, according to specialized sites. The Hollywood Reporter et Deadline.
Boosted by a wave of marketing from the Mattel toy group, which launched the first Barbie doll in 1959, and Warner Bros, associated for production, Greta Gerwig’s comedy is doing better for its launch than “Super Mario”, inspired by the famous video game character (146 million at the beginning of April), or than the sequel to James Cameron’s Avatar (“Avatar: the way of the water”, 134 million in December 2022).
According to specialized sites, it is the best launch in North American theaters for a film directed by a woman, ahead of “Wonder Woman” by Patty Jenkins (2017) and “Captain Marvel”, co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (2019).
“Barbenheimer” phenomenon
In theaters at the same time, “Oppenheimer”, a biopic by Christopher Nolan about the American physicist who developed the atomic bomb, is also making a very good start for a 3-hour film, with 80.5 million receipts, according to Comscore.
The simultaneous release of these two highly anticipated films with opposing stories in the middle of summer created a stir among moviegoers, and the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon took hold of social networks. According to the National Association of Theater Owners in the United States, more than 200,000 moviegoers planned to see both films on the same day over the weekend.
Controversial child trafficking thriller “Sound of Freedom” topped the podium with $20 million, followed by “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning” ($19.5 million) and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” ($6.7 million).
Same observation in France
In France, with 359,889 admissions on its first day in theaters, the film “Barbie” had clearly boosted cinema attendance. We have found levels equal to or even higher than the pre-Covid period since April. However, the success of Barbie confirms to us that the relationship between cinema in theaters and spectators has once again become natural, festive and intense”, noted Marc-Olivier Sebbag, general delegate of the National Federation of French Cinemas.
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