Greta Gerwig Breaks Domestic Gross Opening Weekend Record for a Female Director for 'Barbie'; 'Oppenheimer' is Nolan's Third Largest Opening Weekend

by Zach Miller

    Movie-goers have been anticipating the release weekend of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer for months. Audience members were surely leaving the theaters pleased with their own viewing experiences, as Barbie received a 90% Audience Score via Rotten Tomatoes and Oppenheimer received a 94%. The biggest headline for the weekend however, is the domestic earnings for Barbie coming in at $155.5 million setting the record for the highest domestic weekend gross by a female director on opening weekend surpassing Captain Marvel at $153mil. Oppenheimer also collected an impressive $80.5 million for its opening weekend making it the 11th-highest all-time opening for an R-rated film. Together Barbie and Oppenheimer brought in $511 million worldwide and roughly $235 million of their totals on domestic soil. The two films combined for the fourth-highest box-office weekend in American history.  

    Greta Gerwig’s name to fame is nothing short of inspiring given her resume and the body of work she continues to deliver on. In comparison to her other films and their box office openings, she has drastically climbed the ladder and garnered major popularity. In 2017, Lady Bird’s opening weekend in the US and Canada collected $364, 437, and the global total amassed $78,986,478 total. For a first-time indie director with a studio like A24, it boasted an imposing showing on a shoestring $10 million budget. As for Little Women, opening weekend in the US and Canada collected $16,755,310, with its total box office gross at $218,843,645. To put in perspective just how impressive Gerwig's career is spiking, Barbie is set to dwarf her previous earnings nearly in one weekend at the $155.5 million mark. Barbie and the iconic doll brand are undoubtedly more commercially renowned, however much of the film's success has to be attributed to Gerwig's stylistic take on the female image in American culture.

    As for Christopher Nolan's 3-hour World War II epic, Oppenheimer is currently budgeted at around $100 million according to IMDb. This is surprising to say the least, given it is shot on 70mm IMAX film cameras, the highest technological quality available to date for moviemaking. On a movie projector in theaters, viewing a 70mm print is equivalent to an 18K resolution whereas a normal digital screen may give you close to 4K.

    For Nolan's extensive catalog of films, his highest domestic opening weekend is The Dark Knight Rises at $160.9 million, while accumulating a $1.1 billion global total before leaving theaters. So far Oppenheimer is Nolan's third-highest opening weekend, and largest opening if you take Batman out of the equation entirely. For a 3-hour runtime, it's safe to say that Nolan turned in one of his most critically successful films to date encouraging more people to see it after rave reviews. Below are more of Nolan's box office totals including:

1. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - Opening Weekend, $160.9mil - Total $1.1billion

2. The Dark Knight (2008) – Opening Weekend, $158.4mil - Total $1.0 billion

3. Inception (2010) – Opening Weekend, $62.8mil - Total $826.1mil

4. Interstellar (2014) – Opening Weekend, $47.5mil - Total, $677.5mil

5. Dunkirk (2017) – Opening Weekend,  $50.5mil - Total, $525.2 million

6. Batman Begins (2005) – Opening Weekend, $48.7mil - Total, $371.9 million

7. Insomnia (2002) – Opening Weekend, $20.9mil - Total, $113.7 million

8. The Prestige (2006) – Opening Weekend, $14.8mil - Total, $110 million

9. Memento (2001) – Opening Weekend, $235,488 - Total, $39.7mil

10. Following (1999) - Opening Weekend, $48, 482 - Total $240,495

    This isn't Nolan’s first run-in for a release weekend rival. In fact, in 2008, we saw maybe the starkest contrast compared to this year's rivalry when theaters offered Nolan’s The Dark Knight against Pyllida Lloyd’s Mamma Mia. Other such instances with smash hits in film culture include Blade Runner and The Thing in 1982, The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You in 1999, Jumanji and Heat in 1995 and then later in '95, Toy Story and Casino.

    For more entertainment news and updates in Hollywood be sure to stay tuned for more articles on cinemawave.blogspot.com and follow our social media pages on Instagram and Tik Tok @cinemawavemedia.