AMC Theaters has the best week in its 103-year history as Barbie and Oppenheimer drive huge ticket sales in se – Daily Mail

• AMC Theaters set new record for ticket revenue in opening week for the films
• Barbie was the biggest film debut of the year with $162 million opening weekend
• Oppenheimer made $80.5 million on its first weekend, shattering expectations

AMC Theaters set a new record for movie ticket sales last week, driven by the huge success of the ‘Barbenheimer’ dual-blockbuster opening weekend.

The world’s largest cinema chain operator said in a Monday press release that it recorded the highest one-week admissions revenue in its 130-year history for the week of July 21 to July 27.

AMC said the record-setting week was due largely to the wild success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which raked in $162 million at the box office on opening weekend, and Oppenheimer, which had an opening weekend haul of $80.5 million.

Together the two movies have brought in $1billion in world box offices in about two weeks.  

‘These two movies, along with the many others playing on our huge silver screens, continue to rewrite what is possible at the box office, said AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron in a statement.

‘Achieving the most admissions revenue in a single week in AMC’s storied 103-year history is a testament to the moviegoing audience, who has demonstrated once again that they are ready, willing, and eager to come out to movie theatres in huge numbers,’ he added.

AMC did not reveal how much its theaters specifically made from the two films.  

The Barbenheimer phenomenon has been a boon to movie theaters following a summer of sluggish ticket sales after The Flash flopped, and the latest Indiana Jones film underwhelmed.

Excitement over the dueling debuts of Barbie and Oppenheimer continued into the films’ second weekend when groups clad in pink continued to flood into theaters.

Barbie remained No. 1 last weekend with $93 million in ticket sales, followed by Oppenheimer with an estimated $46.2 million. 

The two movies are seemingly polar opposites, but excitement for each has bolstered the other, with some devoted moviegoers seeing both on the same day.

Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie in the titular role, and Ryan Gosling as Barbie’s iconic beau, Ken, sends Mattel’s iconic doll on an adventure into the real world. 

Oppenheimer is director Christopher Nolan’s historical tale of the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the invention of the atomic bomb, starring Cillian Murphy. 

More than 200,000 people purchased tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. 

Barbie has made more than $351 million in the US and Canada since opening on July 21, and nearly $775 million globally, Comscore reported. 

Universal’s Oppenheimer has made $174 million in the US and Canada so far, and $400 million worldwide. 

The films have seized American moviegoers’ attention at time of strife and uncertainty for Hollywood. 

The Writers’ Guild of America has been on strike over pay since May, while SAG-AFTRA – the union for actors, including A-listers like Robbie and Murphy – went on strike earlier this month. 

In addition to halting virtually all film production, the strike means that actors cannot promote their films as usual, making the recent box office bonanza all the more impressive. 

AMC Theaters said that last weekend marked its third busiest weekend globally since theatres reopened from their pandemic closures in 2020. 

Admissions revenue easily doubled the admissions revenue for the same weekend last year, the company said, without disclosing the revenue figures.

In addition to Barbie and Oppenheimer, the company said the opening of Haunted Mansion bolstered ticket sales, along with the continued success of Tom Cruise’s latest Mission Impossible film, and the unexpected summer hit Sound of Freedom.

‘Our appreciation extends to so many of our friends in Hollywood for releasing all the many hit movies that have graced our theatres, especially over the past few months,’ said Aron. 

AMC said that the Friday to Thursday movie week of July 21 through July 27 was the highest-ever box office week for 65 of its US theaters individually,, including 13 theatres in the Los Angeles market and nine in New York City.