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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Tom Murray,Peony Hirwani,Inga Parkel and Isobel Lewis

Barbie vs Oppenheimer: Frontrunner emerges in battle for box office supremacy

Warner Bros/Universal
Barbie cast turn London Eye pink to celebrate film premiere

Hollywood feels more like the centre of the universe than ever this week as the arrival of the two biggest films of the year coincides with a historic actors’ strike.

Excitement for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has reached a fever pitch as their simultaneous release has finally arrived.

While Oppenheimer’s critical ratings have blown past Barbie with a near-perfect Rotten Tomato score, it’s expected that the latter will, in fact, take over the former in ticket sales.

Barbie is estimated to earn $110m at the US box office during opening weekend, while Oppenheimer is set to take in $50m.

Warner Bros announced Friday (21 July) that Barbie had earned $22.3m (£17.3m) in box office previews – the highest figure of any film this year. Universal, meanwhile, said Oppenheimer collected $10.5m (£8.2m) in preview earnings.

Oppenheimer’s London premiere was cut short, however, as the cast left early in preparation for the SAG-AFTRA strike order, which was initiated hours after the event.

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