‘Oppenheimer’ Has ‘Barbie’ To Thank for Its Weird New Box Office Record

Oppenheimer, as a film, is a bit problematic for a number of reasons, but despite that, it has been an undeniable box office hit. The movie craze unleashed when it was released the same day as the global phenomenon Barbie has been fascinating to watch. But now, Oppenheimer has set a new record, one you probably would never think of—and it’s probably got Barbie to thank, not that anyone is exactly going to want to do so.

The biopic is now the highest-grossing movie to have never held the number one box office spot. What a great, honor I guess? As you can probably guess, there’s only one reason Oppenheimer hasn’t managed to hit that #1 spot despite making so much cash, and that singular reason has been Barbie reliably trouncing it every week since their dueling releases. Without Barbie, it would just be “strong box office success Oppenheimer,” and what fun is that?

Still, it’s in fairly good company, with the previous holder of this record being the lovable animated movie Sing, but what a unique record that gives an interesting insight into the movie industry. So much success and/or failure can have to do with your contemporaries. That isn’t just for movies, either. Think about something like sports. How much more praise would a player like Kevin Durant have received if he hadn’t just so happened to play in the LeBron James/Steph Curry era!? Or how many great players in the 1990s would never have a chance at a title because of some guy named Michael Jordan?

Oppenheimer was just coincidentally (or not so coincidentally?) released at the same time as a tremendous global phenomenon, Barbie. With the massive amounts of marketing put into the latter, I think everyone behind Oppenheimer has to be pretty pleased with its success so far. Sure, it is somewhat riding on the coattails of the summer Barbie fanaticism, but it is a good standalone film (problematic stuff notwithstanding).

(featured image: Universal Pictures)