North America’s largest and third-largest cinema chains both reported their biggest summer box office weekend ever, with the concurrent openings of Warner Bros.’ Barbie and Universal’s Oppenheimer.
As Boxoffice PRO reported on Sunday, this weekend earned a projected $301.4M overall, marking the largest summer box office frame on record and the fourth-highest of all time, behind only:
- April 26-28, 2019 with $401.9M, led by Avengers: Endgame
- December 18-20, 2015 with $313.0M, led by Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- April 27-29, 2015 with $312.3M, led by Avengers: Infinity War
AMC Theatres reported that 87K members of their loyalty program AMC Stubs booked tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day. NATO, the National Association of Theatre Owners, projected that 200K+ moviegoers overall did the same.
AMC also reported that Saturday specifically marked the #5 single-day ticket revenue in the company’s history, plus their #2 concessions revenue day, behind only the opening weekend Saturday of Avengers: Endgame. They even sold out their Barbie pink Corvette popcorn vessel over the weekend.
“People love coming together to experience great storytelling in a movie theater, as proven yet again by the sheer volume of consumers who visited our locations to see Barbie and Oppenheimer during opening weekend,” Cinemark‘s Chief Marketing and Content Officer Wanda Gierhart Fearing said in a press release.
“It appears Barbie actually is everything, and Christopher Nolan fans turned out in droves to see his newest masterpiece in the larger-than-life theatrical format that he intended. Congratulations to our studio partners, as well as the entire creative community for delivering films that generate these record-breaking results.”
“What a fabulous weekend for moviegoers at AMC’s movie theatres in the U.S. and abroad,” AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron. “AMC sends an enormous thank you and congratulations to Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and the entire team at Warner Bros., and to Christopher Nolan and the team at Universal Pictures. They’ve demonstrated that well-made, well-marketed films that captivate audiences can open on the same weekend and both enjoy great success.”
“That success extends beyond just those two films. AMC would not have set its post-reopening attendance record without the on-going solid performances of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Sound of Freedom.”
AMC Theatres ranked #1 in Boxoffice PRO‘s Giants of Exhibition 2023 list of North America’s largest exhibition circuits, with 7,712 screens at 591 sites. Cinemark ranked #3, with 4,392 screens at 318 sites.
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