“Barbie” commands the North American box office in its long-awaited premiere

The blockbuster “Barbie”preceded by an intense marketing campaign, achieved the best release of the year at the North American box office, during a weekend also marked by the premiere of “Openheimer”announced this Sunday the specialized firm Comscore.

The two films should allow theaters in the United States and Canada to add their best income in one weekend since the Covid-19 pandemic, which dealt a severe blow to movie theaters, according to specialized sites. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

Fueled by a wave of pink marketing from the toy group mattelwhich released the first Barbie doll in 1959, and Warner Bros. studios, production partners, Greta Gerwig’s comedy started better with its release than the popular “Super Mario”, inspired by the famous video game character (grossed 146 million in early April), or the sequel to James Cameron’s Avatar (“Avatar: the water path”, with 134 million in December 2022).

In a pop and ironic tale, in which the color pink and sequins are taken literally, Barbie, played by margot robbie Let her trade her heels for Birkenstock sandals to leave her perfect world of Barbie Land and immerse herself in the real world. Ryan Gosling plays the male character of the Ken doll.

According to industry media, it is the best North American theatrical release for a film directed by a woman, ahead of Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” (2017) and “Captain Marvel”, co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (2019).

For its part, “Oppenheimer,” a Christopher Nolan biopic about the American physicist who developed the atomic bomb, is also off to a very good start for a three-hour movie, with $80.5 million in revenue, according to Comscore.

The simultaneous release of these two long-awaited films with opposing stories in the middle of the boreal summer caused a stir among moviegoers, and the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon took over social media. 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.

The controversial child trafficking thriller “Sound of Freedom” followed on the podium with $20 million, followed by “Mission: Impossible – Deadly Judgment Part One” with $19.5 million and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” with $6.7 million.