The phenomenon of the moment that exploded in America, which most will know by the term "Barbenheimer", never ceases to give surprises and above all to favor impressive figures to make the box office take off. After winning the title of best debut of 2023, "Barbie" seems unstoppable, asphalting the competition with a good 155 million dollars in proceeds from screenings in 4,243 theaters and the incredible average of 36,530 dollars per room.

Close behind with equally noteworthy profits is his rival "Oppenheimer" which at the moment stands at around 80.5 million in box office, effectively establishing a record also for Christopher Nolan with the best debut for one of his films ever in theaters.

But the prodigies of the "Barbenheimer" would not end there: hundreds of spectators would have refused to choose one or the other title and would have opted to enjoy both on the same day, contributing to a resurgence in cinema coffers of certain relevance.

With such positive results, director David A. Gross - coordinator of Franchise Entertainment Research - said: «This is an unequivocally fantastic weekend for going to the cinema, Barbie and Oppenheimer complement each other at the box office, but they do not steal the audience at all. 'other movie'.

Faced with the primacy of "Barbie" as the best debut success ever for a film with a female protagonist, the cinema debut of "Oppenheimer" was able to count on extremely positive reviews from critics , in addition to the curiosity that arouses in viewers a story all about the inventor of the atomic bomb. Although with a duration of about three hours and a general setting more oriented towards dialogue than action, the film is confirming a public consensus well beyond the rosiest expectations, especially considering that the most optimistic box-office projections aimed initially at 50 million. But given the over 80 million in 3,610 theaters, the film travels quickly and is oriented towards a global collection of over 170 million, amply covering the production costs which would amount to around 100 million.

The thriller with Jim Caviezel and Mira Sorvino "Sound of freedom" - inspired by a true story and focused on the sexual abuse of minors - is confirmed as this summer's revelation for the American market, grossing another 20 million over the last weekend and exceeding the total of 124.7 million in the last three weeks.

However, the impact of the "Barbenheimer" has caused another heavyweight to fall sharply: the last episode of the Ethan Hunt saga "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1" after a valid debut would have recorded a drop of about 64% of takings , grabbing just 19.5 million in the second weekend for a total figure of 118.7 million.

Finally, "Indiana Jones and the Quadrant of Destiny" comes in fifth place, with an additional 6.7 million adding to the total sum of 159 million. Given the production costs of around 300 million, the last chapter of the historic saga with Harrison Ford still has a long way to go before it is able to satisfy the cold expectations of the market.

Giovanni G. Scanu

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