‘Barbenheimer’ Weekend Was a Real Team Effort

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The incongruous duo of “Barbie,” a hot-pink comedic romp, and “Oppenheimer,” a brooding period drama, combined to sell far more movie tickets than expected over the weekend, pushing the overall domestic box office to $311 million, according to Box Office Mojo, an online database. It was the biggest weekend haul in North America since 2019, and the fourth-largest ever, before adjusting for inflation. It is a sign that Hollywood has, maybe, finally bounced back from the pandemic. (Whether the film business, which is dealing with dual writers’ and actors’ strikes, can keep the momentum going is another question.) The weekend was also noteworthy for its variety, with “Barbie” collecting $162 million, “Oppenheimer” $82.4 million and the rest of the features, including “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Sound of Freedom,” adding more than $66 million. Typically, the biggest weekends for domestic ticket sales have been dominated by a single blockbuster. During the highest grossing weekend, in April 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” accounted for nearly 90 percent of the box office. “Barbie,” by comparison, accounted for just over half of the box office over the weekend.