The box office titan boards the ‘Batman’ and ‘Exorcist’ franchises. PLUS: Netflix wins the Warner Bros. bidding war, trailers for ‘How to Make a Killing’ and ‘Ready or Not 2,’ and what’s going on with Spider League?
Hello! Welcome to TheBox Office Report for the weekend of July 21-23, 2023.
1. Barbie
Weekend gross: $155M Total domestic gross: $155M Last weekend: New release Percent drop: NA
Barbenheimer weekend blew away expectations. The duo grossed an estimated $235.5 million together. While the Barbenheimer concept may have begun as a joke or a gimmick, it wound up fueling each film’s debut way past projections.
Barbie’s $155 million weekend is the biggest opener for 2023, with Greta Gerwig’s film topping The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $146.4 million debut.
The film also set career best opening marks for Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Gerwig. Robbie’s previous biggest opening weekend was the $133.7 million grossed by the original Suicide Squad movie in 2016, Gosling’s previous biggest opening weekend was the $32.8 million grossed by Blade Runner 2049 in 2017, and Gerwig’s previous biggest opening weekend as a director was the $16.8 million grossed by Little Women in 2019.
Does Warner Bros. have a new franchise on its hands? Gerwig is going to be busy working on Netflix’s Narnia adaptions for a bit.
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2. Oppenheimer
Weekend gross: $80.5M Total domestic gross: $80.5M Last weekend: New release Percent drop: NA
Oppenheimer’s opening weekend was probably more of a surprise than the massive haul brought in by Barbie. In early June, Oppenheimer was tracking for somewhere in the $30 million to $35 million range, which would’ve made Christopher Nolan’s latest a flop. Getting swept into the Barbenheimer craze (along with positive reviews) turned Oppenheimer into the biggest non-Batman debut of Nolan’s career.
Before Oppenheimer, Inception’s $62.8 million debut was the largest opening weekend for Nolan after The Dark Knight Rises’ $158.4 million and The Dark Knight’s $158.4 million.
3. Sound of Freedom
Weekend gross: $20.1M Total domestic gross: $124.7M Last weekend: 2nd Percent drop: 26
Weekend gross: $19.5M Total domestic gross: $118.8M Last weekend: 1st Percent drop: 64
Losing the premium large format screens like IMAX and Dolby to Oppenheimer wrecked Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’s second weekend. Maybe Tom Cruise should buy up a bunch of tickets to inflate the numbers like some other movie.
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Weekend gross: $6.7M Total domestic gross: $159M Last weekend: 4th Percent drop: 45
While Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is still the lowest grossing Indiana Jones movie in the domestic rankings (still trailing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’s $178.9 million from 1984!), the final Indiana Jones movie has ticked by Temple of Doom in the worldwide rankings ($335 million to $333.1 million).
Box office numbers via The Numbers based on Sunday estimates.
Next weekend
I don’t see Disney’s Haunted Mansion reboot topping either Barbie or Oppenheimer. Barbenheimer is going to still be going strong next weekend. (I’m seeing Oppenheimer at an IMAX. Sorry, Tom Cruise.)
That’s the end of this edition of Popculturology. Thanks for reading the newsletter. If you already are a subscriber, please consider becoming a supporter by upgrading your account.
The Omnicosm founder. Popculturology, Deep SNL Thoughts and Snackology writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
The box office titan boards the ‘Batman’ and ‘Exorcist’ franchises. PLUS: Netflix wins the Warner Bros. bidding war, trailers for ‘How to Make a Killing’ and ‘Ready or Not 2,’ and what’s going on with Spider League?