Oppenheimer Extends Impressive R-Rated Record Even Further

Make no mistake about it, but the box office is back. Thanks to Barbie and Oppenheimer dropping in the same weekend, the box office is on a tear as both movies continue to bank record-setting sums. In fact, Oppenheimer continues to be a top earner for R-rated movies, earning an additional $46 million during its second weekend in theaters. Should it keep pace with expectations, that means the Christopher Nolan flick would tally the fifth-highest second weekend in the history of the box.

Domestically, the biopic has earned $141 million while its global haul sits at $253.3 million. It’s expected that global haul will balloon to over $280 million by the end of the weekend. On top of that, Oppenheimer also happens to be the highest-earning non-IP movie released this year.

Why is Oppenheimer doing so well at the box office?

In addition to being the latest Christopher Nolan picture, critics and audiences alike are praising the performance of Cillian Murphy as the film’s namesake physicist. In real life, J. Robert Oppenheimer oversaw the development of the world’s first nuclear weapons, something the film portrays as equally haunting.

“I do think that he believed it would be the weapon to end all wars,” Murphy told NME of his role earlier this year. “He thought that [having the bomb] would motivate countries to form a sort of nuclear world governance. He was naive.”

“Chris used this amazing phrase,” the actor recalled. “We were talking about Oppenheimer’s arc and he said, ‘You know, he’s dancing between the raindrops morally.’ That unlocked something in my mind when I was preparing.”

Who Stars in Oppenheimer?

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer, David Krumholtz as Isidor Isaac Rabi, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddermeyer, Matthias Schweighöfer as Werner Heisenberg, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs, Guy Burnet as George Eltenton, Danny Deferrari as Enrico Fermi, Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer, Gustaf Skarsgård as Hans Bethe, Trond Fausa Aurvåg as George Kistiakowsky, and Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman.

Both Barbie and Oppenheimer are playing exclusively in theaters.