'Oppenheimer' Finally Overtakes 'Barbie' at the Global Box Office

The movie will also, this week, become the second highest-grossing R-rated movie in history.

Since its late July cinematic debut, Universal's Oppenheimer had been trailing behind Warner Bros' Barbie in the global box office race. However, in the sixth week of both films' release, Christopher Nolan's nuclear drama managed to surpass Greta Gerwig's toy adaptation in a single weekend, claiming the top spot on the latest worldwide box office chart.

Oppenheimer raked in a confirmed $8.2 million in North America, experiencing a 23% decrease in earnings (although this figure was boosted, like all titles, by the $4 ticket prices on National Cinema Day, which fell on a Sunday). Additionally, it brought in $30.7 million in international markets, marking a 27% drop in holdover regions. The cumulative global earnings now stand at $777.9 million, with North America contributing $299.2 million and international markets adding $478.7 million.

The international weekend numbers received a boost from the film's delayed release in two new markets: Italy, where it grossed a confirmed $9.7 million, and Greece, where it earned $882,000. In Italy, Oppenheimer achieved a remarkable feat by delivering the largest opening ever for a Christopher Nolan film. Its five-day debut earnings of $9.7 million were more than double the opening earnings of all previous Nolan films except for The Dark Knight Rises, which Oppenheimer still surpassed by a substantial margin of 55%. Not only that, Oppenheimer secured over 70% market share in Italy and recorded the highest-ever opening weekend in the territory for IMAX screenings.

Topping the worldwide box office and finishing number one for the weekend wasn't the only significant milestone achieved by Oppenheimer, as this week the film opened in China and is projected to have earned another $11 million at the time of writing, which would propel it to second place above both Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool films in the all-time charts for highest-grossing R-rated films, sitting right behind Joker, the DC Comics adaptation by Todd Phillips for which Joaquin Phoenix won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Nolan last week became the most prominent Hollywood director to visit the country of China in support of a film since the pandemic began in 2020, and he has been rewarded with strong pre-sales and exceptional word of mouth from filmgoers. There remain no confirmed release plans for Japan as yet.

Oppenheimer is set to cross the $800 million mark at the worldwide box office in the coming days. The film is playing in theaters now.

Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure.