The National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) is predicting that more than 200,000 moviegoers will attend screenings of Barbie AND Oppenheimer in theaters across North America this weekend. This is in addition to all the viewers who plan to see the movies on different days.
Michael O’Leary, NATO’s president and chief executive said: “Movies have once again confirmed their power to capture our cultural imagination, with the cinema proving to be the last place to go to be part of a shared experience. The excellent word of mouth on these films, along with a diverse range of other exciting titles, promises continued growth in attendance, proving that cinemas are essential to our cultural landscape.”
AMC Theaters recently reported that over 40,000 loyalty program members have purchased advanced tickets to see movies on the same day. AMC CEO Adam Aaron took to Twitter today, sharing, “Barbie AND Oppenheimer They are the 12th and 17th highest grossing tickets in the US for the same period in AMC history. I doubt they’ll get that high, but it shows the appeal of these movies and AMC. Who ever predicted that cinemas are dead? #HE chokes”
Before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Barbie star Margot Robbie shared with USA Today, “I think it’s the perfect double bill. It’s like having a steak dinner, then ice cream for dessert. I love both!”
“Movies in theaters have that unique ability to mobilize audiences over a single weekend in a way rivaled only by professional sports championships,” said Cinema Foundation President Jackie Brenneman. Boxoffice Pro. “On TV, when fans watch similar shows in similar time periods, you can find them connecting on social media, but the real connection goes largely unseen and unknown. There’s nothing like walking into a theater filled with movie fans and hearing the positive buzz in the lobby. There’s an unmistakable feeling when movie fans share a moment that can’t be duplicated anywhere else, and that’s what double moviegoers are looking for.”
In her first film as a director since 2019 Little Women ($108.1 million domestic / $218.8 million global), Greta Gerwig tackles the first big-screen live-action story based on Mattel’s global fashion doll franchise. Barbie stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, along with America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman and Will Ferrell. The film is directed from a script by Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, and Gerwig’s behind-the-camera talent includes director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, six-time Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood and Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran.
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer is an IMAX-shot thriller that tells the story of a man who must risk destroying the world to save it. The film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine ‘Kitty’ Oppenheimer. The cast also includes Gary Oldman, Kenneth Branagh, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh and Rami Malek. Nolan’s most recent films span the 2020s Tenet ($58.5 million domestic / $365.2 million global), 2017 Dunkirk ($189.7 million domestic / $527 million global) and 2014 Interstellar ($188 million domestic / $773.8 million global).
