‘Barbie’ Stomps Out ‘Oppenheimer’ by $30-50 Million in Initial Box Office Projections: Report

Tom Cruise may be urging us all to become Barbenheimer Girls — a.k.a. theatergoers set on watching Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer on the same day — but early box office projections are pointing to a different scenario: Barbie stomping out Oppenheimer with her pink plastic pumps.

Warner Bros.' Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and a gaggle of other famous faces as live-action Barbie and Ken dolls, could open to $70-$80 million during its July 21-23 premiere weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline went even bolder, predicting Barbie could bank $80-$100 million during its opening window. The outlet also reported that Barbie pre-sales are pacing ahead of this past spring's The Little Mermaid, which made $95.5 million over the Memorial Holiday Weekend.

Per THR, Warner Bros. is cautiously anticipating a $60 million box office turnout for Barbie, which is rumored to be less family-friendly than its poppy aesthetics may signal, opting instead for a more darkly comedic and satirical take (think The Truman Show with a dash of The Wizard of Oz). Still, both THR and Deadline are projecting that Barbie's brand recognition, loyal fanbases for its director and cast members, and all-out big-budget marketing during its publicity tour will ultimately bring adults out in droves to watch.

Its July 21-23 box office weekend rival, Universal's Oppenheimer, may have Nolan's name attached as the director (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, Inception), Cillian Murphy as its leading man (Peaky Blinders), and A-listers Emily Blunt and Matt Damon also on the bill, but THR and Deadline are pinning a $40-$50 million range for Oppenheimer's premiere.

While it's worth noting that box office predictions aren't always accurate at this stage (just look at The Flash), if they do turn out to be correct, then Oppenheimer would mark one of Nolan's lowest-performing openings, down there with Tenet and The Prestige. Oppenheimer's intense subject matter, attention-commanding three-hour runtime, and comparably lusterless press tour could be what's pushing theatergoers away from the atomic bomb drama and toward the plastic blonde bombshell's live-action romp.