‘Barbie’ An Even Bigger Knockout With $356M+ Global Bow, ‘Oppenheimer’ Increases Genius To $180M+ WW Launch – International Box Office Actuals Update

Nancy Tartaglione
·26-min read

MONDAY UPDATE, with actuals: Actuals are in for the weekend’s behemoth double-bill with both movies seeing significant upticks now that Sunday is tallied. Warner Bros Barbie has come in with a $356.3M global launch through yesterday, versus the estimated $337M – talk about being in the pink. Meanwhile, Universal’s Oppenheimer charged to a $180.4M worldwide launch versus the $174.2M Sunday estimate.

While domestic factors here, there were significant international box office increases for both films on Sunday.

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Greta Gerwig’s Barbie logged a more than beachy keen international box office total of $194.3M in 69 offshore markets through Sunday, waves ahead of the $182M from yesterday’s projections (see Sunday update below for original Sunday reporting on both Barbie and Oppenheimer).

Globally and internationally Barbie is the biggest start ever for a non-franchise WB movie and the third-best of all time for a WB film worldwide, as well as the 5th best start overseas for a WB title.

The Margot Robbie/Ryan Gosling-starrer was No. 1 in 58 offshore markets and is the best 2023 start for a Hollywood movie in 24 markets including Australia, Brazil, and the UK. Also up from yesterday’s estimates, Barbie is the top WB opening of all time for WB in 26 markets (Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico among them).

In one session, Barbie has already surpassed the lifetimes of Ocean’s 8, Cruella and Birds of Prey. Also increasing against yesterday’s estimates, the international take has Barbie tracking 60% above Wonder Woman, 178% over Cinderella and 195% above The Little Mermaid as well as 259% above Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in like-for-likes and at today’s rates. In Europe, as a region, Barbie has overtaken The Super Mario Bros Movie as the biggest launch weekend of the year.

Individual market increases in the actuals include leader the UK with $24.2M versus the $22.9M reported yesterday. This is the he 2nd best three-day start for a WB film ever behind only the final installment of Harry Potter.

Brazil also jumped, to $17.6M in the actuals versus the $15.9M Sunday estimate. France is confirmed at $10.2M for the top WB opening since the pandemic and the studio’s biggest since Joker in 2019. Italy rode the wave to $8.8M, dominating with an 83% share of the Top 5 Films in the market. This is 3% above Beauty and the Beast, 14% over Fast X and 4% ahead of Super Mario. China, where we really were not expecting much, actually increased screens throughout the weekend resulting in an $8.1M three-day; 23% ahead of The Greatest Showman and 231% over The Little Mermaid.

On Oppenheimer, offshore markets raised their running cume to $98M, up from yesterday’s $93.7M estimate (again, see Sunday update below for more on initial reports on both films).

The $98M overseas makes Oppenheimer the No. 2 opening weekend ever for a film directed by Christopher Nolan behind only The Dark Knight Rises ($131M) and ahead of The Dark Knight ($94.2M) in non-restated figures. At current exchange rates and excluding previews, the weekend result is narrowly below The Dark Knight Rises (-2%), achieves the 2nd biggest international opening for a Nolan film, more than double all other comps. It is also 49% above last week’s openings for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One.

Meanwhile, at current exchange rates and including previews, the offshore cume of $98M through Sunday is in line with The Dark Knight Rises (-6%).

The Cillian Murphy-led biographical epic was No. 1 in 17 markets including India, Netherlands, UAE, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Denmark. In 42 markets (up from 36 in the estimates), this is Nolan’s best opening weekend ever. Across the Europe/Middle East/Africa region, Oppenheimer is the biggest debut for Nolan, topping The Dark Knight Rises.

Notable markets that saw increases in the actuals include the UK with $14M for the second biggest opening for Nolan, behind The Dark Knight Rises, more than double Interstellar and Tenet and the 8th best Universal three-day weekend ever.

India was up to $7.2M versus the $7M estimate; France scored $7M, up from the $6.4M estimate and landing the second-biggest start for a Nolan movie; Germany trued up to $6.6M (while Barbie was No. 1 for the frame, there was just a slight difference between the two with Oppenheimer on top Thursday and Saturday).

Other markets to see slight upwards shifts for Oppenheimer versus Sunday’s estimates include Saudi Arabia ($4M), Spain ($3.8M), UAE ($3M), Brazil ($2.7M); Netherlands ($2.6M), Hong Kong ($1.9M) and Belgium ($1.5M).

PREVIOUS, SUNDAY: It’s a Barbenheimer world as Warner Bros’ Barbie and Universal’s Oppenheimer have delivered massive global debuts of $337M and $174.2M, respectively.

At the international box office, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, surfed a wave to an incredible $182M from 69 markets, the biggest WB offshore opening ever for a non-franchise film. At the same time, Christopher Nolan’s Cillian Murphy-led Oppenheimer in 78 markets landed a staggering $93.7M overseas.

For both titles, the performances are beyond expectations, buoyed by great critical and audience response as well as the organic worldwide Barbenheimer phenomenon which created fusion at the box office as double bills became the order of the weekend for many moviegoers around the globe.

Studio insiders across town have been agog over the past several days at the momentum – which also had a knock-on effect of expanding the marketplace. This is terrific for the industry, and welcome news before we hit what could be a somewhat fallow period if the Hollywood strikes stretch out.

Says Andrew Cripps, Warner Bros President of International Theatrical Distribution, “The incredible worldwide results we’ve seen are a testament to the filmmakers’ singular vision to provide a fun and engaging experience that audiences of all ages are responding to in a fun and powerful way.”

And for Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of Distribution for Universal Pictures International, “We couldn’t be happier for Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, the phenomenal cast and crew, and our partners at IMAX and exhibition around the world.”

This is indeed a sunshine moment with two movies that couldn’t be more different dialing into a communal experience for the world. Adds Kwan Vandenberg, “This weekend has been a huge win for our industry. The market expanded and it is great to see audiences of all ages and demographics appreciating both films.”

Echoes Cripps, “It’s great to see people coming out to see both films. It’s well-deserved and well-needed news.”

Indeed, this is one of those weekends that we haven’t had for a long time where there is an awful lot to parse. It’s not just the amazing newcomers, but also the holds.

Barbie scored the 2nd biggest industry opening of 2023 internationally behind Universal’s Fast X and was No. 1 in 55 markets. This also marks the top overseas start for Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig and the biggest industry opening of the year in 18 markets including Australia, Brazil and the UK.

Further milestones include biggest WB bow ever in 16 markets including Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

In like-for-like markets and using today’s exchange rates, the film is tracking 50% ahead of Wonder Woman, 161% above Cinderella, 177% over The Little Mermaid and 236% over Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Running down the Top 5 markets, the UK’s gigantic $22.9M ranked a clear No. 1 with records including the biggest opening for a WB film since the pandemic and the top start of 2023, ahead of Super Mario. It’s followed by a stunning Mexico debut with $22.3M, repping 73% market share and the biggest opening ever for a WB title and the 2nd best of the year.

Brazil’s $15.9M is WB’s best ever (even ahead of the DC-loving market’s number for Justice League and Batman V Superman), best of 2023 and 3rd best ever.

Australia’s $14.6M start is the best ever for a WB movie in the market and tops of 2023. And, Spain, which doesn’t always factor at the top of the lists, is next with $9.9M, the 2nd best bow of the year, just behind Super Mario (which debuted on a Wednesday discount day). Barbie in the market came in 23% above Beauty and the Beast, 39% above Fast X and 56% above Joker.

Barbie was also positively on fire in Latin America with the biggest opening of a WB movie ever, and tops for 2023 (ahead of Super Mario and Fast X). In Europe, it’s the best non-franchise start for WB ever, and in Asia overperformed as the top WB start in Malaysia and Philippines, while conferring best launches for Robbie and Gosling in multiple plays.

Meanwhile, epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer is Nolan’s biggest opening weekend globally behind only the final two films in the Dark Knight trilogy. It’s also the biggest global day-and-date opening weekend ever for a biographical film surpassing Bohemian Rhapsody ($124M), and the top worldwide launch for a drama since 2019 ahead of Creed III ($100.2M).

In like-for-like markets at historic rates it’s the 3rd highest grossing opening weekend ever for a film directed by Nolan behind only The Dark Knight Rises ($131M) and in line with The Dark Knight ($94.2M) – note that it could catch the latter in non-restated numbers.

In 36 overseas markets, this is Nolan’s best start including India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Netherlands. In 55, it’s his best non-Batman launch including the UK/Ireland, France, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Spain and Brazil. And, it scored the biggest opened day for a Nolan title in 33 markets.

In IMAX, the film bowed to $35M globally, with 20% of the gross coming from only 740 screens. Shot with IMAX film cameras, specifically designed to be seen on IMAX screens, and playing in IMAX 15/70 film, Laser and Xenon, the film is Nolan’s top IMAX opening ever, the biggest for IMAX in July and the biggest of 2023 as well as the 2nd best ever for Universal.

International markets contributed $13.9M in IMAX, 14.8% of the offshore gross from only 329 screens. This is also tops for Nolan and tops for IMAX in July, while it’s the biggest IMAX opening weekend ever in Mexico, India, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Czech Republic.

Among individual territories, the UK leads at an estimated $13.3M three-day start. That would fall in line with Dunkirk (+3%), above Inception (+76%) and Interstellar (+94%) and more than 3x Tenet.

India is on track to deliver the biggest 3-day IMAX opening ever for a Hollywood title. Estimated to reach a full $7M this weekend, it is Nolan’s tops ever, best of 2023 and Universal’s best start since the pandemic began. Note that it already beat those benchmarks on opening day, and scored the biggest  non-franchise Hollywood opening weekend and 7th biggest Hollywood opening weekend in history. (Also note that censor edits were made per usual business practice in order to secure a release in certain markets; we understand that in India, nudity in a particular scene was covered up for the release there with the movie carrying a UA rating meaning it’s classified for viewers with parental guidance for children under 12.)

France gave Nolan the biggest opening Wednesday since The Dark Knight Rises with the weekend estimate at $6.4M, which would make it the biggest non-superhero Nolan opening weekend, and come in above Inception (+6%), Tenet (+30%), Interstellar (+43%) and Dunkirk (+29%).

Germany isn also estimated to reach $6.4M this session, similarly the biggest non-superhero start for Nolan and above Inception (+14%), Interstellar (+63%), Tenet (+82%) and more than 3x Dunkirk excluding previews.

Australia, with stiff competition from Barbie, is estimated to have an opening weekend total of $6.3M, ahead of Dunkirk (+54%), Inception (+24%) and more than double Interstellar and Tenet. Thanks to the astounding performance of both Oppenheimer and Barbie, total market box office on Saturday and Sunday was the highest ever recorded.

Mexico is eyeing $4.5M in the frame this weekend, the biggest non-superhero Nolan opening there, 84% above Interstellar and more than double Tenet, Dunkirk and Inception excluding previews.

Saudi Arabia is looking to reach $3.9M for the frame, the 2nd biggest weekend ever (only behind Spider-Man: No Way Home) and easily the top start of 2023.

Brazil is on track to open with $2.5M this session, which would be the biggest opening weekend for a non-superhero Nolan film.

Netherlands on Saturday overtook Barbie for No.1, delivering the biggest opening Saturday for a Nolan film and the 2nd biggest Saturday of 2023 (behind Super Mario). Through today, the estimate is $2.4M, Nolan’s best ever opening weekend.

Other market cume estimates through Sunday include Indonesia ($1.8M), Hong Kong ($1.8M) and Belgium ($1.3M).

Further of note, this weekend’s business is propelling Universal across $3B global for the year, the second studio to achieve the box office milestone in 2023. This marks the ninth time the studio has reached the threshold and only the fourth time any studio has reached $3 billion worldwide since 2019.

Of the top 10 highest grossing opening weekends at the 2023 global, domestic and international box office, Universal has released three including Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Oppenheimer and Fast X.

Along with the Barbenheimer effect and exhibition leaning into the phenomenon, kudos also go to the individual studios. Warner Bros gave Barbie a vast neon pink international campaign. Talent traveled to Australia, Korea, Mexico and London (only missing Berlin because of the strike). Universal kicked off an Oppenheimer tour in Paris in mid-July with talent walking the red carpet at the capital’s landmark cinema the Grand Rex, along with a junket before heading to London for simultaneous screenings in Leicester Square and at BFI IMAX. The actors ended up leaving early from the former, in solidarity as the SAG-AFTRA strike was called.

Looking at the holds, Paramount/Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One may have lost some momentum amid the Barbenheimer double-bill, but let’s recall that Tom Cruise himself encouraged moviegoers to see both this weekend’s movies, in effect launching a star-endorsed love-in for the expanded marketplace. M:I7 in its second frame grossed $55M from 71 markets for an overseas cume of $252.1M. Global is $371M. Significantly, the film debuted in Japan this weekend at No. 1 with $7.9M – that’s 23% above Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

China is the top offshore market at $40.6M, followed by Korea ($23.5M and No. 1 this frame), the UK ($21.1M), India ($13.2M) and France ($12.9M).

Also showing continued strength, Disney/Pixar’s Elemental is now eyeing at least a $430M global gross. It sat behind M:I7 this weekend in Korea, but is still on fire there with $38.4M to date in the market. Overall, an $18.3M international weekend from 51 markets (-37% versus last session) has brought it to a $219.4M running cume overseas and $356.6M global. Korea really is a standout where it has passed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to become the highest grossing studio movie released during 2023 to date as well as Pixar’s all-time highest grossing movie there (surpassing Inside Out). Japan is still to come in August.  Mexico is the next best play at $18.2M, followed by China ($15.8M), France ($14M) and Brazil ($12.2M).

Screen Gems/Stage 6 Films/Blumhouse’s Insidious: The Red Door made $12M this weekend for an international cume of $84.8M to push its worldwide total to $155.8M. The Top 5 are Mexico ($12.3M), the UK ($8.4M), Philippines ($6.7M), Indonesia ($5.4M) and France ($4.1M).

Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny for its part is now at $335M global, with $176M coming from overseas. The current frame was worth $8.2M from 52 material markets. The offshore hold was -54%; there’s some uptick here (as with other movies in release) given the expanded marketplace that had folks turning up to cinemas in droves. Top 5 here are UK ($23M), France ($18.2M), Japan ($15.2M), Germany ($11.5M) and Spain ($10.6M).

Local Chinese pic Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms was new this session, debuting to an estimated $53M.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (SNY): $2.9M intl weekend (63 markets); $300.2M intl cume/$675.4M global
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (PAR): $1.6M intl weekend (56 markets); $271.5M intl cume/$427.1M global
No Hard Feelings (SNY): $1M intl weekend (51 markets); $33.4M intl cume/$82.6M global

PREVIOUS, SATURDAY: Audiences at the domestic, global and international box office this weekend are going bonkers for Barbenheimer. Warner Bros’ Barbie is now poised for an estimated $300M+ worldwide start through tomorrow (eyeing $150M+ each, from North America and a combined 69 overseas markets). Meanwhile, Universal’s Oppenheimer is now pegged for a $165.9M worldwide bow through Sunday, including $88.9M internationally.

These figures are, for both titles, beyond expectations, confirming that there’s room and a desire for a diverse quality offering at global turnstiles.

Looking at Barbie’s trajectory, the Friday on the Greta Gerwig-directed film was its best day so far internationally with $43M on 25,451 screens from 69 markets. The overseas cume through Friday is $88.4M.

Yesterday’s newcomers included the UK which grossed $8.3M from 1,703 screens. This was a No. 1 launch with a 60% share of the Top 5 films. The Margot Robbie- and Ryan Gosling-starrer logged the best opening day since the pandemic and the 3rd biggest Friday for a WB film ever behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Batman V Superman.

Along with the massive start in the UK, Latin America continues to overperform with Mexico leading all play through Friday at $11.2M.

In new records, Barbie debuted to the best score ever for a Warner Bros movie in Poland.

In China, where we really didn’t expect anything significant, Barbie opened amid a slew of local titles with $1.2M and (not included in the total above) is at $4M through Saturday. It has a 9.4 from audiences on Maoyan (note that this strangely appears to be the same score for a number of recent Hollywood titles that haven’t converted to big box office).

Also of note, family-leaning Brazil, which has grossed $8.9M through Friday, is seeing unprecedented and unusual showtimes added by exhibition. We also hear that Australia on Saturday positively skyrocketed.

As for Christopher Nolan’s Cillian Murphy-led Oppenheimer, the estimated overseas launch of $88.9M would mark the filmmaker’s 3rd highest grossing opening weekend ever, behind only The Dark Knight Rises ($131M) and The Dark Knight ($94M).

What’s more, the $166M worldwide projection through Sunday would mark the biggest global day-and-date debut for a biographical film, overtaking Bohemian Rhapsody ($124M) and the top worldwide start for a drama since 2019.

In other milestones for Nolan, he’s also seeing his biggest launch day of all time in 33 markets including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, India, Netherlands, Argentina and Belgium; as well as the 2nd biggest opening day in six markets including Germany, Brazil and UK/Ireland; and the top day-one start for a non-Nolan Batman title in 46 markets including Australia, France and Mexico.

Market highlights include the UK where Oppenheimer opened to $4.2M on Friday. That’s 14% higher than Dunkirk, which we thought might have had an edge given its UK-centric story. The start was the 2nd biggest Friday ever for a Nolan film and the biggest opening Friday for a non-superhero Nolan film as well as the 10th biggest Universal opening day of all time.

Fifty-two IMAX and 70mm IMAX screens took 19% share of the Friday total in the UK with top site BFI IMAX’s Friday gross the biggest ever result for that cinema.

In France, Oppenheimer is at a running total of $3.5M through Friday, performing above most Nolan comps. Germany has reached a running total of $2.8M through yesterday; Saudi Arabia is at $2.6M and Mexico has reached a running total of $1.9M. In the latter, this is the biggest Nolan opening in IMAX with performance in the format 15% ahead of Spider-Man: No Way Home and just 13% below Avengers: Infinity War.

We will have a full rundown on Sunday.

PREVIOUS, FRIDAY: Barbenheimer has begun. With Warner Bros’ Barbie and Universal’s Oppenheimer rolling out globally this weekend, we’ve got the first numbers for both from their various international box office markets through the first two days of release.

As expected, the Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie is coming out on top with $41.4M through Thursday in 51 markets. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is also thriving with $15.9M across its first 57 markets through Thursday. Both are breaking various records.

It’s important to remember that these movies are not direct comps to one another, with runtimes and demos differing. Still, we’re in what is hoped to be an expanded marketplace situation that encourages moviegoing and benefits from the Barbenheimer phenom (although Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One may end up taking a breath this frame, it was still tops in Korea today).

So let’s take a closer look at the Barbie and Oppenheimer numbers across their first two days internationally.

Barbie, through Thursday, is in release in 51 offshore markets, and has shattered a number of records. Thursday alone was worth $31.8M on 15,700 screens – that is simply a hugely impressive number. An additional 18 markets are opening today, including the UK and China (in the latter, and not included in the totals above, the movie did approximately $1.2M on Friday).

The top-grossing market to date is Mexico with $6.4M, logging the biggest opening day for a Warner Bros film ever. It is also the 2nd biggest opening day of 2023, and the 3rd biggest opening day post-pandemic (wow!).

Brazil dominated Thursday at No.1 with $4.9M and an 84% market share of Top 5 films, and is the biggest opening day ever for a WB title, the biggest opening day post-pandemic ahead of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the biggest opening day of 2023 ahead of both Fast X and The Super Mario Bros Movie, and the 2nd biggest opening day of all time, only behind Avengers: Endgame.

France, which unboxed the doll very strongly on Wednesday, has grossed $4.5M while Australia (also a Wednesday opener) amassed $3.4M through Thursday. The latter gave it a dominant No. 1 with a 60% share of the Top 10 films. Results in Oz are tracking well ahead of all comps, and even came in 5% above Avatar: The Way of Water (another wow!).  It scored the biggest opening day of 2023 at more than double Super Mario.

Italy and Germany round out the Top 5 grossers to date with $2.4M apiece.

Looking at regions, Barbie had the biggest opening day of all time for a WB film in 13 Latin America markets, and was the biggest industry opening day ever in Argentina ($1.2M) and Colombia ($1.5M). It was also the biggest industry opening day of 2023 regionally and in eight markets. The doll further scored the 4th biggest opening day ever regionally behind Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Elsewhere, Barbie saw the biggest opening day of all time for a WB title in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. And in Denmark, it clocked the biggest opening day for a WB film in 13 years while Portugal had the 2nd biggest opening ever for a WB title behind only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

As regards Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer, yesterday added 47 offshore markets. The Cillian Murphy-starrer will be out in a total 78 through today.

Nolan started racking up milestones on Wednesday with Oppenheimer (see below), and has now logged his biggest opening day in 23 markets including Saudi Arabia and the UAE as well as the Middle East as a whole, Netherlands and Colombia. Thursday was further the No. 2 biggest Nolan opening day in Germany, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador and his best non-Batman start in 30 markets including Germany, Australia, France, Mexico and Brazil.

Also, Oppenheimer, which was filmed with IMAX cameras, captured the best opening day ever for the format in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, Argentina, Mexico and Chile.

Breaking down the Thursday openers, Saudi Arabia launched to No. 1 with $1.5M for the 2nd biggest opening day of all time (behind Spider-Man: No Way Home) and the biggest opening day of 2023 (85% above Fast X), also more than double the opening Thursday of MI:7.

Australia, where Oppenheimer opened as the widest ever release for a Nolan film in 296 locations, scored $1.1M on Thursday – for Nolan, only topped by The Dark Knight Rises.

Germany debuted to No. 1 with $1.3M, more than double Dunkirk, Interstellar and Tenet.

Mexico bowed with $900K on Thursday, more than double the Friday openings of Dunkirk, Interstellar and Tenet, and well above the first Thursday for MI:7. It is the widest IMAX footprint for a Nolan title and achieved the 3rd biggest IMAX opening day of all time (behind Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War) and the biggest IMAX opening day for a Nolan film, far outperforming Tenet, Interstellar and Dunkirk.

Spain opened with $700K on Thursday and is the biggest IMAX opening day of 2023. Reactions are strong, with a very high 8 audience score on FilmAffinity, placing it within the Top 10 films of this century (yeah, again, wow!).

Brazil opened with $488K on Thursday, followed by Netherlands with an estimated $485K at No. 1 and delivering the biggest opening Thursday ever for a Nolan film. Oppenheimer also achieved the biggest IMAX opening Thursday for a Nolan film, also beating Top Gun Maverick (+23%), Avengers: Infinity War (+18%), Avatar 2 (+114%) and MI:7 (+232%).

Hong Kong too launched at No.1, with $340K on Thursday. This is the 2nd biggest IMAX opening day ever (only behind Endgame).

Other impressive Thursday starts include Denmark ($328K – biggest opening day ever for a Nolan film) and Colombia ($236K – biggest opening day for a Nolan film and biggest Thursday total box office of all time).

After debuting on Wednesday, France added $1M on Thursday for a running total of $2.4M. Indonesia added $209K on Thursday for a running total of $661K. Thursday’s result makes it the biggest Thursday gross ever for a Nolan film and the 3rd biggest Thursday of all time in the market. Belgium added $211k on Thursday for a running total of $462K.  Philippines added $107K on Thursday for a running total of $232K.

We’ll have much more throughout the weekend…

PREVIOUS, THURSDAY: Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated and highly-reviewed Oppenheimer has begun overseas rollout with strong results versus some of the director’s previous titles. On Wednesday, the Universal film opened in 10 offshore markets, grossing $2.4M and led by France and Indonesia. These are early days as the critically-lauded Cillian Murphy-led biographical drama/political thriller will be playing a total 78 markets through Friday, across over 9,600 locations, 13,000 screens, and more than 320 IMAX screens.

While we wait for the full onslaught of the much-anticipated “Barbenheimer” double-bill this weekend, and will have a fuller picture including Warner Bros’ Barbie tomorrow, we already have initial international box office numbers for Oppenheimer, the story of the building of the atomic bomb, and the resultant aftermath.

In France, Oppenheimer debuted to $1.4M o Wednesday from 725 screens including 18 IMAX and two 70mm screens, as well as 11 Dolby Vision and six ultra-laser Kinepolis screens. The launch day is the biggest opening Wednesday for a Nolan film since The Dark Knight Rises. Excluding previews, the Wednesday admissions are above MI:7 (+23%), Dunkirk (+14%), Tenet (+28%) and Interstellar (+76%). Audience reactions are highly positive with mainstream audiences rating it 4.4/5 and cinephile audiences rating it 7.3/10, one of the top ratings for the market.

Indonesia bowed Wednesday with an estimated $451K to mark the biggest opening day ever for a Nolan film (38% ahead of The Dark Knight Rises). IMAX delivered the biggest opening day ever in the format and the biggest single day gross in IMAX, beating Avatar 2 (+11%). Oppenheimer is playing across 10 IMAX screens and a total of 495 screens in the market. Wednesday was a public holiday in Indonesia for Islamic New Year.

Belgium opened with $251K on Wednesday, the biggest start ever for a Nolan film in the market, beating The Dark Knight Rises (+13%), Inception (+23%) and The Dark Knight (+31%) as well as all other key comps.

Philippines launched with $125K on Wednesday, the top opening day ever for a non-superhero Nolan film. Oppenheimer played across nine IMAX screens and in a total of 198 screens.

Egypt had a terrific start at $74K on Wednesday with Oppenheimer delivering the 2nd biggest opening day for any studio movie since the pandemic hit, only behind Spider-Man: No Way Home. It also easily achieved the biggest Hollywood opening day of the year, more than double Fast X and the 7th biggest MPA opening day of all time in admissions, +18% above Avengers: Infinity War.

Switzerland (French-speaking) grossed $70K on opening Wednesday, more than double the launch days of Tenet and Batman Begins, above Dunkirk (+29%), Interstellar (+46%) and recent opener MI:7 (+8%).

The film also had a strong start in Iceland ($31K) for the top Nolan start outside the Batman series.

Among majors, today the film opens in Australia, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Brazil with the UK, Spain and India following on Friday.

In terms of presales, UK/Ireland is seeing strong uptake with PLFs repping a significant portion and sell-out shows across opening weekend; Germany’s IMAX presales are above Universal’s own Fast X, Jurassic World Dominion and Fast & Furious 9. In Saudi Arabia, presales are wild, currently tracking an estimated 32x greater than Fast X at the same point in time and setting a new record.

We will have much more to come throughout the weekend…

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