The combined power of Barbie and Oppenheimer has been a goldmine for AMC Theaters. Thanks to cinema fans going to see both films in a phenomenon affectionately known as “Barbenheimer,” the theater chain had the biggest box office week in the entire history of the company.
According to a press release provided to CNN, the Barbie and Oppenheimer double feature was a much-needed salve after the COVID pandemic threw the entire theater industry into disarray. Release dates were scuttled and films were shifted to streaming, leaving theater owners scrambling to make up business. While Top Gun: Maverick got things roaring back into gear last summer, “Barbenheimer” has been a historic moment for the theater chain.
In a news release on Sunday, the world’s largest theater chain announced that from July 21-27, it earned its largest single-week admissions revenue since the company’s founding in 1920. AMC attributed this 103-year high to the incredible opening weekend of both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” as well as the strong momentum that continued to carry them along.
Of course, the double feature has not been without controversy, and no, we’re not talking about the right-wing weirdos freaking out over Barbie. Those dorks don’t count.
The “Barbenheimer” social media craze forced Warner Bros. to issue an apology after its Japanese division took understandable offense from the official Barbie Twitter account interacting with a mushroom cloud meme. Warner Bros. apologized and quickly deleted the offending tweet.
However, Japanese movie fans reacted by creating 9/11 memes featuring Barbie because have we mentioned this summer is weird? This summer has been very weird.
(Via CNN)
