Dread it, run from it, Barbenheimer arrives all the same and it keeps growing exponentially. Barbie and Oppenheimer‘s dual release on Friday powered the domestic box office to bigger opening weekends than originally reported — and the fourth-biggest box office weekend in domestic theatrical history.

Greta Gerwig‘s fantasy-comedy starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken absolutely smashed through box office predictions with an astonishing $162 million take, above Sunday’s estimate of $155 million — which was already record breaking. The film declined just 9% from Saturday’s take to bring in an additional $43.7 million on Sunday alone, which is enough to rank as the highest opening weekend of the year, beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie which had already defied belief with its $146 million opening.

Barbie also now holds the record for the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman, overtaking the $153 million grossed by Captain Marvel in 2019 — that film was directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. The film added $182 million internationally for a sensational $337 million total. Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein wrote a celebratory note to the press which stated: “This historic result reflects the intense heat, interest and enthusiasm for ‘Barbie’. This doll will indeed have long, long legs.”

Atomic Blonde

Barbie isn’t the only bombshell from this weekend, though. Oppenheimer brought in an arguably more impressive haul of $82.4 million, just slightly higher than Sunday’s atomic $81.5 million projection. Internationally, the biopic about the theoretical physicist in charge of the Manhattan Project took an additional $93.7 million for a worldwide total of $174 million, which is just an incredible number for a three-hour character study that is shot in black-and-white for large portions of the film. Domestically, as an R-rated film, it’s bested only by The Passion of the Christ which had something of a devoted pre-built following going into it.

The viral sensation of “Barbenheimer” — double features, special costumes and TikTok trends et al — helped pushed the box office to the biggest collective weekend since the pandemic and, more importantly, the fourth-biggest weekend in history with over $300 million. The top three weekends of all time were led by Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which gives you an idea of the cultural impact of this weekend past.

Both of the films also carried immaculate word-of-mouth and A CinemaScores, plus Oppenheimer has IMAX screens sold out worldwide for the next two weeks, which will bring in even more money. 47% of Oppenheimer‘s domestic tally was brought in by Premium Large Format film, with IMAX along representing $35 million of ticket sales.

Both films are still playing in cinemas — and they will be for some time.

via Collider