In the battle for the top spot at the box office, "Gran Turismo" narrowly beats out "Barbie," according to early figures from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. "Gran Turismo" brought in $17.3 million, while "Barbie" earned $17.1 million. However, it's important to note that "Gran Turismo's" premiere weekend figure includes a portion of revenue from early and fan showings that were used for promotion after the film's premiere was delayed due to the actors' strike and press tour limitations.
Despite coming in second, "Barbie" continues to perform well in theaters, bringing in more than $17.1 million on its sixth weekend and nearing the $600 million mark for domestic revenue.
In third place is "Blue Beetle," the 14th installment of the DC Extended Universe, which earned $12.8 million. This marks a drop of two spots from its premiere last week when it knocked "Barbie" from the number one spot for the first time since its opening.
"Oppenheimer" also continues to have success in theaters, collecting $9 million and becoming Christopher Nolan's third-highest-grossing film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline estimates that "Oppenheimer" will reach $300 million domestically by the end of Sunday.
It is worth mentioning that Sunday is National Cinema Day, and movie theaters across the country are offering $4 tickets to any movie at any time. It remains unclear how this promotion will impact the box office numbers for the weekend, and while early reports show "Barbie" leading, the final numbers could change by Monday.
Last week, "Barbie" surpassed "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" to become the year's highest-grossing film at the domestic box office after only 35 days in theaters. It is likely that "Barbie" will also achieve this milestone internationally, as it has already earned $1.3 billion globally compared to "The Super Mario Bros. Movie's" $1.35 billion, according to Variety.
Warner Bros. is reportedly unhappy with how Sony is handling the box office figures for "Gran Turismo." If the film's opening weekend did not include the preview weekend figures, "Barbie" would have reclaimed the number one spot for a fifth week, causing frustration at Warner Bros. Before being knocked off the top spot by "Blue Beetle" last week, "Barbie" held the number one box office position for 28 consecutive days and broke several records, including becoming Warner Bros.' highest-grossing film and director Greta Gerwig becoming the highest-grossing female director of all time.
"Gran Turismo" aims to continue the recent success of video game-based movies, trying to surpass its $60 million budget. The film, which tells the true story of a teen Gran Turismo player turned racer, has received a 60% critic rating and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.