Barbie, Oppenheimer Score Strong Second Weekends at the Box Office

It’s a repeat of Barbenheimer weekend at the box office as both the Barbie movie and Oppenheimer post impressive second-weekend numbers, leading to a record-high final July weekend at the box office, while drowning out competition from newcomers like Disney’s . Barbie earned $29 million on Friday, and the Greta Gerwig-directed film is expected to earn $93 million in its second weekend at the box office, the best second weekend ever for a Warner Bros. Pictures movie (not adjusted for inflation). Barbie‘s cume domestic box office total will climb to $351.4 million in North America by Monday and surpass $750 million worldwide. Barbie  and the film, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has earned high marks from critics and fans on . ComicBook.com’s Nicole Drum gave :

“Barbie is quite possibly Gerwig’s best film to date. It is insightful, hilarious, and packed with thoughtful commentary as well as an incredible amount of Easter eggs and one-liners that will reward audiences of every age and opinion on Barbie, not just on the first watch, but on multiple rewatches. Barbie pulls off the near-impossible task of taking what could have been merely a capitalist IP-driven cash grab and turned it into a celebration of and commentary on culture that gives the audience permission and encouragement to challenge not only everything they think Barbie represents, but what the world asks of us mere humans as well so that we never go back into the box again.”

Oppenheimer is also continuing to have success. The Christopher Nolan-directed, R-rated, three-hour historical biopic will earn $46.2 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic box office total to $46.6 million. Oppenheimer . ComicBook.com’s Patrick Cavanaugh gave

“After a long string of crowd-pleasers that also manage to inject ambitious philosophical and existential components, Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s most intellectual and internal experience in years. It showcases the universality of humanistic struggles without hingeing upon them entirely, while also subtly yet exponentially layering in explicit critiques of global war machines. Despite chronicling events that unfolded 70 years ago, exploring an arms race or being given conflicting information by government authorities and being expected to honor ever-changing ideologies feels immensely contemporary. With Oppenheimer, Nolan orchestrates a talented symphony of performers at the top of their game to explore an overlooked corner of history, treating it with nuance and respect while lesser hands would lean into melodrama. The movie is a tribute not only to the true-life figures who pushed the limits of science forward, but also to those who suffered the consequences of those forward-thinkers’ quest for fire.”

Haunted Mansion is disappointing in its opening weekend at the box office. The new Disney movie, which is based on the beloved theme park ride, will gross $24.6 million after earning $9.9 million on Friday. ComicBook.com’s Charlie Ridgely gave Haunted Mansion a 4-out-of-5 review. He writes:

“At long last, Haunted Mansion finally gets the adaptation the beloved ride has always deserved – a fun, scary, and surprisingly emotional time at the movies. It may not be a groundbreaking cinematic achievement like Gore Verbinski’s first outing with Jack Sparrow, but it’s certainly Disney’s best live-action movie since Pirates of the Caribbean wrapped up its initial trilogy.”

Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Haunted Mansion are playing in theaters now. The list of top 10 films at the box office this weekend is in the works.