Barbie and Oppenheimer surpass $1 billion box office mark

One weekend. Two highly-anticipated box office releases. One #Barbenheimer hashtag.

Now surpassing the $1 billion US dollar mark in worldwide box office revenue, it's safe to say Greta Girwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer have lived up to the cinematic hype.

Both films have celebrated a successful opening fortnight in theatres.Over the weekend, Barbie raked in more than $93 million USD domestically and $122.2 million USD internationally, ensuring Girwig's hot pink picture has now taken more than $775 million USD worldwide.

Similarly, Oppenheimer drew more than $46 million USD at the domestic box office and $72.4 million USD internationally over the weekend, ensuring the explosive picture's takings surpassed the $400 million USD mark.

What does that mean in simple terms?

Well, Barbie and Oppenheimer have now smashed through the $1 billion USD barrier two weeks after release.

Needless to say, those figures don't come close to the success seen by Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens which broke all manner of records in December 2015.

Surpassing $149,202,860 USD over the course of its second weekend, Barbie's $93 million USD pales in comparison, slotting in just behind The Avengers in sixth place.

As with any box office smash, the releases haven't come without their fair share of controversy.

Garnering the hashtag #Barbenheimer due to the joint release date, last week saw #NoBarbenheimer trending in Japan, the world's third largest movie market behind the US and China.

'Why?' I hear you ask. Well, the backlash stemmed from memes linking the two films which were deemed by many Japanese fans to trivialise the atomic bomb.

Playfully combining Barbie imagery taken from the film with Oppenheimer's mushroom clouds, conversations surrounding the joint marketing effort got so serious, that Warner Bros Japan has since publicly criticised their US counterparts.

A joint push for box office success, the move has since been labelled an ‘inconsiderate’ reaction by the Japanese arm of Warner Bros.

It follows criticism from some that Oppenheimer features little-to-no devastation brought about by the atomic bomb blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which resulted in 220,000 deaths.

Oppenheimer is yet to have an official release date in the territory.

As for whether the internet beef will dent Barbie's takings over the course of its opening weekend, only time will tell, with Barbie hitting Japanese theatres on August 11.

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