Tickets for Barbie + Oppenheimer double-feature boom ahead of Aussie release

Entertainment

With less than two weeks until Barbie and Oppenheimer open in movie theatres across the world, demand for seeing both films in one seating is growing, with thousands of AMC customers already purchasing tickets to both the fantasy comedy about Barbie-land and the three-hour drama of the development and dropping of the first atom bomb.
Australia’s Margot Robbie attends the press junket and Photo Call for “Barbie” at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Image: Getty
Key Facts
  • More than 20,000 members of AMC Stubs loyalty program have already bought tickets to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day, the movie chain said in a statement Monday.
  • Demand for the double feature has increased in recent days, AMC said, with a 33% increase since Friday in the number of guests purchasing tickets to both films.
  • AMC also said it has staggered showtimes so moviegoers can more easily attend the same-day double feature.
  • In Washington, D.C., some theatres have already sold out advanced screenings of Barbie, Axios D.C. reported.
  • Barbie and Oppenheimer hit Australian cinemas on July 21.

Related

Big number

$80 million to $100 million. That’s how much Barbie is projected to earn in its opening weekend in theaters, according to Deadline.

Meanwhile, Oppenheimer is projected to open to $40 million to $50 million, Deadline reported.

Surprising fact

Vietnam is the one place the double feature is certain not to see the same success.

The country banned the Barbie movie last week over a scene in the film that featured a map of the South China Sea using the nine-dash line which China uses to illustrate its claim to territory in the region.

Warner Bros. said the map “is a whimsical, child-like Crayon drawing” and “was not intended to make any type of statement.”

Key background

Barbie is one of the most-anticipated movie releases of the year. The film tells the live-action story of Mattel dolls Barbie and Ken.

With an all-star cast—Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrera and Dua Lipa—and pop soundtrack produced by Mark Ronson, the film’s release has been long awaited.

Social media hype around the film has only grown as the premiere has gotten closer and more information about the film has been released. Its shared release date with Oppenheimer has inspired a plethora of social media memes.

The diametric nature of the films has attracted many folks to plan to see them both as a double feature, a rare phenomenon in the 21st century movie world. 

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, and tells the story of the American theoretical physicist and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.

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