“You’re being managed on Barbie” was a snarky text I received last night, “it’s at least $130M.”
The point of that is the projections out there for the Greta Gerwig directed feature take of the Mattel doll are indeed wild. Rivals were spotting $90M-$125M; Warners asserting $75M. Today, to support the crazy fever of moviegoing we’re about to witness this weekend, the BoxOffice Company is reporting that Barbie is outpacing all other films this year since Avatar: The Way of Water. You’ll remember that James Cameron directed sequel debuted to $134M.
The BoxOffice Company powers Google, IMDB, Bing, TikTok, Apple and others for showtimes.
More numbers are out there about these Barbie-Oppenheimer double features which moviegoers are boldly attempting this weekend.
In the wake of AMC reporting that north of 40K of their Stubs members have purchased tickets for both movies in the same day, NATO/National Association of Theatre Owners is saying that more than 200K moviegoers will attend same-day viewings of Barbie and Oppenheimer at theaters across North America.
“According to our estimates, we project that more than 200,000 moviegoers in North America will be enjoying an exciting same-day double feature of Barbie and Oppenheimer, in addition to the millions of worldwide moviegoers who are planning to see both films on different days this weekend,” says Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of NATO. “Movies have once again confirmed their power to capture our cultural imagination, with the cinema proving to be the ultimate place to go to be part of a shared experience. The excellent word of mouth on these movies, along with a diverse range of other thrilling titles, promises a continued upswing in attendance, validating that movie theaters are essential to our cultural landscape.”
All in all, as we told you yesterday, it’s the third time this year that the entire weekend box office will gross north of $200M. More evidence that theatrical is back after Covid.