Director Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie had an impressive opening day at the box office, grossing $70.5 million on Friday. This makes it the biggest opening day for any film this year, according to Variety. The film's success has raised hopes that it, along with Oppenheimer, which opened with $33 million, could help reverse the declining audience turnout.
Barbie earned over $70 million on its opening day, surpassing the opening day box office sales of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which opened to $51.8 million in June. In addition, Oppenheimer had a solid opening day with $33 million, the third-largest opening day this year.
Barbie is projected to gross between $95 million and $110 million this weekend, putting it on track to have the fourth-largest opening weekend of the year, behind films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Oppenheimer, on the other hand, is projected to earn $50 million at the domestic box office for its opening weekend.
It is worth noting that Barbie could potentially break the record for the biggest opening weekend for any film directed by a woman. The current record is held by Captain Marvel, co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with an opening of $153 million in 2019. Wonder Woman, directed solely by Patty Jenkins, holds the record for any movie directed by a woman, opening to $103 million in 2017.
Barbie had early reviews describing it as a "pink fever dream" with a "flat emotional landing." The same-day release of Barbie and Oppenheimer was expected to help boost box office sales, which have been low this year due to underperforming big-budget films like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Overall, the combined release of Barbie and Oppenheimer is seen as a positive development for the film industry, with analysts and film analysts considering it a "movie marketers dream come true." Other highly anticipated films like The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Dune: Part Two, as well as Disney's The Marvels, are expected to further boost box office sales later this year.