“Barbie” scores the best North American debut of the year

The fast-paced comedy ‘Barbie’ has had the best start of the year in North American cinemas. She clearly pushed the atomic bomb drama “Oppenheimer” into second place, various American media reported on Sunday (local time). The live-action adaptation, about a trip to the real California by the famous toy doll and her boyfriend Ken, is estimated to have grossed about $155 million in the US and Canada as of Sunday.

Director Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”) has made the best start ever for a movie directed by a woman, the industry website “The Hollywood Reporter” wrote.

The historical drama about the physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who is considered the “father of the atomic bomb”, raised about $ 80.5 million. Since Christopher Nolan’s film (“Inception”, “Dunkirk”), with a running time of 180 minutes, is longer than the 114 minutes long “Barbie”, the cinemas were able to schedule fewer performances.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1” and the child trafficker drama “Sound of Freedom”, controversial for its proximity to conspiracy myths, followed with approximately $19 million in ticket sales. According to Variety, it was the fourth highest grossing weekend in North American film history when not adjusted for inflation.

For weeks, the studios had successfully fueled the hype for the double release of the two films: according to a survey by the American Movie Theater Owners Association, more than 200,000 people saw the two films on the same day, thanks in part to very good reviews.

For movie theaters, these numbers are a relief amid the script and actor strike – the market mood is also hampered by the fact that purported hits like “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1” and the Pixar film “Elemental” fell far short of expectations.

Thanks to strong results also in foreign markets and budgets of about $ 145 million for “Barbie” and about $ 100 million for “Oppenheimer”, both films should be very profitable. (saw/sda/dpa)