No one could have imagined that Barbie and Oppeneheimer would accomplish fusion and create a weapon strong enough to help rescue the troubled summer box office.
Until now, the overall recovery of the theatrical landscape has been anchored by younger men between the ages of 18 to 35 who are always eager to see the next superhero installment or non-stop action pic. But the proverbial fanboy took a backseat (or sort of anyway) when Barbenheimer came along and attracted consumers from nearly age group who decided to take a break from streaming and partake in the biggest cinematic cultural event in years. Barbie, an all-out behemoth that will soon cross $1 billion globally, is fast becoming one of the top female-fueled films of all time at the box office, not adjusted for inflation.
According to Comscore, Barbie and Oppenheimer led the second biggest July of all time at the domestic box office with $1.371 billion, behind July 2011 ($1.396 billion), which launched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Now that they have been in theaters for two weeks, The Hollywood Reporter takes a closer look at the general audience breakdown for Warner Bros.’ Barbie and Universal’s Oppenheimer in the U.S. using data provided by those with access to exit polling service PostTrak.
Battle of the Sexes
Over the July 21-23 frame, 69 percent of ticket buyers rushing to see Barbie on its opening weekend were female. Warner Bros.’ and filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s movie about Mattel’s iconic fashion doll took in a staggering $162 million domestically, one the biggest launches of all time and the biggest ever for a female director. The female percentage of Barbie‘s debut weekend was on par with the Twilight films, as well as many of The Hunger Games titles.
Female-fronted superhero pics Wonder Woman (2017) and Captain Marvel (2019) played far more evenly among the genders; Wonder…
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