Barbie and Oppenheimer give British cinema its best week in 11 years

Barbie and Oppenheimer blockbusters give British cinema its best week in 11 years as millions of families flock to watch movies

• Odeon says it sold two million tickets for the highly-anticipated films in ten days
• READ MORE: Barbie and Oppenheimer’s second weekend box office numbers

British cinemas have had their biggest week in over a decade with families flocking to see blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer.

The UK’s largest cinema chain, Odeon, says it sold two million tickets for the highly-anticipated films in just ten days – double what the company had predicted it would sell in a week.

Meanwhile Vue UK and Ireland said the two movies smashed its previous highest admissions week 11 years ago – when viewers flocked to watch the James Bond film Skyfall – by 20 per cent.

With the two hit films opening on the same day last week, many fans opted to watch them back to back – boosting ticket sales.

The hype around what became known as ‘Barbenheimer’ meant the films – which are vastly different – were not in competition but rather helped one another to sell more tickets. 

Barbie world: The Barbie movie hit theaters on July 21, with Margot, 33, leading the cast as the eponymous Barbie doll alongside her boyfriend Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, 42

The UK’s largest cinema chain, Odeon, says it sold two million tickets for the highly-anticipated films in just ten days

Oppenheimer features an all-star cast and is led by Cillian Murphy, who plays the theoretical physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb

Barbie fans flocked to Leicester Square to watch the blockbuster hit when it opened on July 21

Odeon also said that Barbie would beat Super Mario Bros to become its biggest film of the year so far, The Sun reports.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie sees Margot Robbie, 33, leading the cast as the eponymous Barbie doll alongside her boyfriend Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, 42.

The cast is a who’s who of Hollywood powerhouses, with Will Ferrell playing the CEO of Mattel, and Helen Mirren the narrator.

Meanwhile, Oppenheimer also features an all-star cast led by Cillian Murphy, who plays the theoretical physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The stellar cast also includes Brits Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt, as well as Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon.

Worldwide, Oppenheimer has earned a whopping $400.4 million (£312.09 million) so far.

That accounts for $174.6 million (£136.09 million) in the US and $226.3 million (£176.39 million) elsewhere.

The Barbie film stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, while Oppenheimer follows the real-life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the Atomic bomb’ 

Barbie and Ken: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling play the iconic dolls 

Sensational: Cillian Murphy stars in the Christopher Nolan feature film 

Meanwhile, Barbie has raked in $774.5 million (£603.68 million), meaning it could be on track to become the second movie of 2023 to cross the billion mark and join an elite club of one billion dollar films.

The doll-inspired flick achieved an astonishing $360 million (£280.60 million) worldwide in its opening weekend.

In total, Barbie and Oppenheimer drew an estimated $465 million (£362.44 million) in ticket sales following their joint release date of July 21.

If the $465 million figure is accurate, Barbenheimer’s opening weekend could be the the biggest box office weekend of all time.

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