‘OPPENHEIMER’ AND ‘BARBIE’ RULE THE BOX OFFICE IN INDIA

Undoubtedly, two of the most anticipated films of the year, Barbie and Oppenheimer released in cinemas across India on July 21, 2023 and are now ruling the Box-Office in India & Worldwide. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, both films have received a massive response from both critics and audiences and are now setting the box office on fire across the country. 

Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon & Florence Pugh has had a Record-Breaking Opening Weekend with a Box office collection of Rs.60 crores (Gross) across 1923 screens (including all IMAX screens). It is the highest opening weekend ever for a Christopher Nolan film and a Non-Franchise Hollywood film. It also is the highest opening weekend for a Hollywood movie on Imax screens & the highest opening weekend (Friday to Sunday) for a Hollywood film in 2023. Internationally, India is the 3^rd highest in the world following only the US & the UK markets .

Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling has had an excellent Opening Weekend of Rs.21 Crores (Gross) on 868 screens which is the widest release for an English version only film. It is Warner Bros’ biggest Opening Weekend for 2023 after The Flash and 3^rd biggest opening weekend for a Female directed Hollywood after Frozen II. 

Oppenheimer with its huge following for its beloved director, Christopher Nolan; and Barbie which has been a cultural phenomenon in recent months has brought audiences in droves to the cinemas which has been a big boost for the exhibition industry in India. Many cinemas have reported about audiences booking tickets for both films on the same day or the same weekend in a celebration of the great cinematic experience!

Incidentally, both films have been released by Warner Bros. Discovery in India. Speaking on the momentous occasion where two Hollywood films dominated the Box office in India, Denzil Dias, VP & Managing Director, India Theatrical, Warner Bros. Discovery said, “We are beyond thrilled with the box office numbers of both ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ at the India Box office and are delighted to see the Indian audiences throng the cinemas to watch these films of completely different genres. While we knew that Christopher Nolan has a huge fanbase in India, ‘Oppenheimer’ has outperformed by becoming the biggest opening for a Nolan film ever!

In a market dominated typically by Action-event films or Superhero films, ‘Barbie’ has defied odds with its Box office collections to become the 2^nd biggest Opening ever for a Hollywood female-oriented film.  

The success of both films on the same weekend is a very encouraging sign for the Cinema business in India which clearly shows that the audiences will come in droves for quality content.”

Ashish Saksena, COO - Cinemas, BookMyShow, said, “With Oppenheimer and Barbie finally releasing across screens nationwide, it’s been a clash of the titans at the box office with both films exhibiting sheer cinematic brilliance and fans flocking to theatres for the big screen extravaganza.

With 1.4 million tickets booked for Oppenheimer on BookMyShow so far, there has been a strong platform contribution of 74% to the overall box office revenue collection for the film while over 500,000 tickets have been sold for Barbie with an equally mammoth contribution of 70% by BookMyShow to the overall box office revenue collection for India, both films are off to a skyrocketing start right off the bat. 

Cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Chennai continue to lead in ticket sales on BookMyShow, while cinephiles across India have been showing mammoth interest for both films, where cities like Pune, Kochi and Ahmedabad are in the lead when it comes to non-metros. The absolute excitement to catch these films on the big screen and in the most immersive format of IMAX is also evident in non-typical show timings of 12 AM and even 3 AM shows running packed on BookMyShow!

Interestingly, both films have attracted a significant number of cinephiles booking tickets for both, despite their contrasting themes and a substantial portion of the audience has planned their watching schedule for both movies on the same day! The prospects for these two films seem very promising over the course of the next week, riding on massive hype as they are expected to draw hordes of audiences to theatres across different formats, providing the ultimate big-screen experience.”

Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director, PVR INOX Limited said “There was already a huge amount of anticipation for both these iconic movies, which is visible from the exceptional turnout of fans that we have witnessed in cinemas across India. We are proud to have sold more than 1.5 million tickets so far, depicting a hysteria which is running across the country, metros & non-metros alike for Barbie and Oppenheimer. Even our cinema in Srinagar is witnessing houseful shows, which speaks volume about the excitement around the two movies. Not just IMAX, but even our Premium Large-screen Formats, P and BigPix, and experiential format like ICE too are witnessing sold-out scenarios. 

With an objective to sustain the hype, we at PVR INOX had implemented some intriguing marketing strategies to further elevate the movie experience for our patrons for both the films. As a build up to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, we had hosted 'The Nolan Film Festival' from 17th to 20th July, showcasing the brilliance of Christopher Nolan's iconic movies. To make the experience even more engaging, we have introduced exciting consumer initiatives.  Moviegoers who choose to watch the film on IMAX screens between 21st July and 1st August have a chance to win a swatch of Nolan's 70 MM Reel by participating in our interactive Oppenheimer trivia game, easily accessible through QR codes displayed on the screens. Moreover, we are proud to offer exclusive Director's Preferred seats to those booking their IMAX tickets through our PVR app. These seats, recommended by none other than Christopher Nolan himself, promise an immersive and unparalleled movie-watching experience. Thanks to our post-midnight shows, we screened Oppenheimer for 24 hours on the IMAX auditoriums of PVR ICON Phoenix Palladium, INOX Megaplex at Inorbit Mall, and INOX Rcity in Mumbai. To build excitement, we had placed digital countdown timers at 7 of our cinemas nationwide, which have already become a hit among 'Oppenheimer' fans, further fueling the enthusiasm. There were plenty of pink-themed celebratory events across cinemas to welcome the release of Barbie.”

Devang Sampat, CEO, Cinepolis India said “Christopher Nolan's reputation as a brilliant storyteller has significantly attracted audiences, while the nostalgia surrounding Barbie has also been successful in drawing moviegoers to the theaters.

Barbenheimer fever had swept Cinépolis as well and more than 15% of our customers watched both Barbie and Oppenheimer together at Cinépolis. This weekend has been truly fantastic, and we achieved over 75% occupancy across our 435 screens in the country.

Both films have surpassed the industry's expectations at the domestic box office, with the highest opening weekend numbers. We are optimistic about the 'Barbenheimer' wave continuing for several weeks, which will benefit the industry as a whole”

Girish Johar, Producer and Trade analyst said “This weekend’s box office collections have destroyed all pre-conceived notions about what kind of films work at the Indian Box Office. It is clear that the focus should only be on telling good stories backed by solid content. Christopher Nolan leads by example by creating another masterpiece in ‘Oppenheimer’ and the box office results says it all. Even Barbie, has performed extremely well considering the fact that the film is from a genre which does not typically have very wide appeal, but this movie proves all predictions wrong.”

Denzil Dias added “While these two films will have a long run at the cinemas, we are equally excited with our diverse forthcoming line-up. Superhero, Horror, Sci-Fi, Animation, Family Films, Potential Academy Award Nominees as well as Female oriented comedies, there is something for every fan.”  Upcoming releases from Warner Bros. Pictures India include Meg 2: The Trench (August 4), Blue Beetle (August 18), Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (August 25), The Nun II (September 8), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (September 22), The Exorcist: Believer (October 13), Dune: Part Two (November 3), Trolls 3 (November 17), Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (December 21) Wonka (December 29) & Migration (December 29).”

About Barbie:

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a Heyday Films Production, a LuckyChap Entertainment Production, an NB/GG Pictures Production, a Mattel Production, Barbie. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, only in cinemas from 21^st July 2023 onwards.

About Oppenheimer:

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer is an IMAX®-shot epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan.