Last weekend saw the release of two extremely anticipated movies at the box office, which had garnered significant excitement from movie goers in India and around the world.
The clash was between "Oppenheimer", directed by Christopher Nolan and the Greta Gerwig-directorial "Barbie" dominated headlines worldwide and even led to the coining of a new term- "Barbenheimer".
The former revolves around the making of the atom bomb while the latter is the tale of Barbie and Ken and how their life changes once they leave "Barbie Land" and enter the real world.
The opening weekend collections (between July 21 and 23) for both movies have come in and the India numbers and those worldwide paint a contrasting picture.
In India, it was "Oppenheimer" which performed better than "Barbie". The former collected Rs 50 crore, while the latter collected Rs 18.50 crore.
However, it was "Barbie" which performed significantly better than "Oppenheimer" during the opening weekend at the international box office. The former collected $182 million while the latter collected $93.7 million.
In terms of overall collections, "Barbie" collected $337 million while the "Oppenheimer" numbers were found to be $174.2 million during the first weekend.
"The weekend is a reminder of the kind of cultural relevance movies can bring," David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting company Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety website.
The CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners Michael O’Leary termed the weekend "truly historic".
"It was a truly historic weekend. People recognized that something special was happening and they wanted to be a part of it. This was a phenomenal experience for people who love movies on the big screen," he said.
The upcoming week for both releases will be crucial with movie-goers returning to work. While "Barbie" may have won Round 1, it remains to be seen if the contest becomes more even in the upcoming days.
Also read: Oppenheimer and Barbie: Hollywood clash fuels multiplex boom in India
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