'Barbie' Box Office to the world: The pandemic is officially over

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Greta Gerwig's gender wars "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's nuclear war "Oppenheimer" blew past already-stratospheric prerelease expectations at the weekend box office to collect a combined $235.5 million in the United States and Canada, an astounding total that sent a clear message to Hollywood: If you want to commandeer the culture, you must give moviegoers something new — not just the same old threadbare franchises. «Original storytelling executed in the right way has broken out in a really remarkable way,» said Richard L. Gelfond, the CEO of IMAX, which accounted for 26% of the «Oppenheimer» turnout in North America, selling out even 4 a.m.

screenings. «These movies weren't sequels that looked the same as the last sequel in a long-running franchise. You might say people noticed.» The blockbuster turnout signaled that Hollywood has finally bounced back from the pandemic.

All told, North American multiplexes had their biggest weekend since «Avengers: Endgame» arrived in April 2019. «Barbie» and «Oppenheimer» powered the domestic box office to about $302 million in total weekend ticket sales, with films such as «Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One» and «Sound of Freedom» contributing to the balance. «Barbie,» a feminist manifesto wrapped in hot pink bubble gum, sold an estimated $155 million in tickets at domestic theaters, according to Comscore, which compiles box office data.

The PG-13 comedy collected an additional $182 million overseas. «Barbie» was released by Warner Bros. and cost $145 million to make, not including marketing expenses, which were considerable.