Barbie and Oppenheimer's July 21 release date fueled heated debates online about which would win the box office, and while one movie out-grossed the other, they're both champions given all the records they collectively achieved. The two movies couldn't be any more different, as one is a comedy about a toy doll and has a color pallet that's 50 shades of pink, and the other is a bleak biopic about the inventor of the atomic bomb. Both come from visionary directors, too. Oppenheimer is by Christopher Nolan, who makes movies on an epic scale and pushes the boundaries of cinema, and Barbie is directed by profound filmmaker Greta Gerwig.

Despite the debates about which would do better during their opening weekend, viewers embraced the phenomena of "Barbenheimer," and many went to see both movies on the same day. In a plot twist as great as any of Nolan's, the two movies seemingly helped each other become more successful instead of stealing the other's audiences. Not only was it perfect counterprogramming, but viewers who wouldn't ordinarily watch Barbie embraced the film, and vice versa. As a result, "Barbenheimer" is being hailed as the weekend that saved cinema, with Barbie and Oppenheimer both opening big at the box office, and it's led to a number of records being set and/or broken.

17 Oppenheimer Is Christopher Nolan's Best Opening For A Non-Batman Movie

Oppenheimer had one of Christopher Nolan's biggest box office openings. The biopic had an opening domestic gross of $80.5 million and a debut worldwide gross of $174.2 million, and both numbers are higher than the respective grosses of Nolan's other films outside his Batman movies. Even then, Oppenheimer made more than Batman Begins did in its opening weekend, which is even more impressive given that Oppenheimer is three hours long.

16 Barbie Has The Best Opening Weekend Of 2023

Barbie is rated PG-13, which is surprising for a movie based on children's toys. However, despite this, the movie still managed to make much more than The Super Mario Bros. Movie did in its opening weekend. Barbie grossed $155 million domestically and $182 internationally, and both of these figures beat the animated video game movie and knocked it off the top spot of 2023.

15 Barbie Is Already Mattel's Highest-Grossing Movie Ever

Even though it is just the movie's first weekend, Barbie has already become Mattel's highest-grossing movie of all time. Granted, there might not have been much competition when it comes to movies based on the brand's toys, yet it's still a huge feat considering how quickly the record was achieved. The toy manufacturer will undoubtedly now greenlight a lot more movies based on its products.

14 Barbie Is Warner Bros.' Biggest Opening Weekend In 7 Years

Warner Bros. hasn't seen this much success in an opening weekend with any of their movies in seven years. The last Warner Bros. movie to gross more than Barbie in its opening weekend was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Even then, the 2016 release was a huge event movie, and when it quickly earned a mixed reception, the film suffered a huge dip in its second weekend. Given the positive reception of Barbie, the 2023 film will undoubtedly outperform the superhero movie.

13 Barbenheimer Is The Fourth-Best Opening Weekend In History

Together, Barbie and Oppenheimer had a total domestic opening weekend gross of $235 million at the box office. That's the fourth-highest domestic opening weekend ever. "Barbenheimer" weekend sits behind the opening weekends of Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It might have required two films, but the fact that two films grossed a combined $235 million domestically on the same weekend is arguably even more impressive.

12 Barbie Is The Biggest Opening Weekend Ever For A Woman Director

Greta Gerwig has made history with Barbie, as the movie has become the biggest opening weekend for a woman director, and that likely won't be beaten any time soon. The previous record holder was Anna Boden, who co-directed Captain Marvel with Ryan Fleck. The superhero movie grossed $153.4 million domestically in its opening weekend, and Barbie only just barely beat it.

11 Oppenheimer Is The Second-Biggest Opening Of All Time For A Biopic

Oppenheimer had the second-biggest opening for a biopic, sitting behind American Sniper, which grossed $89.2 million worldwide in its debut. However, Oppenheimer could still potentially have a much better box office performance overall, as there's a lot more interest in Oppenheimer internationally than there was with American Sniper.

10 Barbie Is Greta Gerwig's Biggest Movie Ever

It wasn't remotely hard for Barbie to surpass the previous Great Gerwig movies at the box office, but it's still an impressive feat. Gerwig directed Lady Bird, which took in a total of $79 million worldwide, and Little Women, which grossed $218 million worldwide during its entire run. Barbie has grossed more than both of those two movies combined, and the movie did so within its opening weekend alone.

9 Barbie Is Margot Robbie's Biggest Opening Weekend Ever

Margot Robbie is a huge movie star who has led a ton of blockbuster movies, including Suicide Squad and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. However, Barbie easily delivered the biggest opening weekend the actor has ever had, beating Suicide Squad's $133.7 million. The actor needed this, as Barbie follows Margot Robbie's two 2023 box office bombs, Babylon and Amsterdam.

8 Barbie Is Ryan Gosling's Biggest Opening Weekend Ever

Not only did Barbie give Margot Robbie her biggest opening weekend ever, but it's Ryan Gosling's, too. Gosling's Ken is a scene-stealer in Barbie, and the box office performance is just as much of a win for him as it is for Robbie. While Gosling is an A-list star, he has surprisingly never had a huge box office hit, as his previous biggest opening weekend was $32.8 million for Blade Runner 2049.

7 Barbie Is The Biggest Opening Weekend For A Movie Based On A Toy

Barbie beat Transformers: Dark of the Moon by a landslide to have the biggest worldwide opening weekend for a movie based on a toy. The Transformers sequel took in $115.9 million worldwide in its debut, losing to Barbie by $50 million. If this is a sign of things to come, based on the Transformers movies' box office grosses, Barbie will easily pass the billion-dollar mark before it's done.

6 Barbie Is The Largest Non‐Sequel, Non‐Remake Movie Released In July

Though Barbie is an IP-driven film, its success isn't based on any previous movie, and that has led to another huge record. July is always a huge month for blockbuster movies given that it's part of the summer movie season, but Barbie had the biggest worldwide opening of any non-sequel and non-remake released in the month. The animated feature The Secret Life of Pets previously held the record, as opened with $104.4 million in 2016, but Barbie beat that by over $50 million.

5 Oppenheimer Is The Biggest IMAX Opening For Christopher Nolan

Though Christopher Nolan has broken three IMAX cameras, the filmmaker has always championed the format and believes that IMAX screens are the only way to watch his films. The director even worked with IMAX to develop a black-and-white IMAX camera for Oppenheimer, so it must be gratifying for the director to know that the 2023 movie gave him his biggest IMAX opening ever. The total sales of IMAX tickets for Oppenheimer over the weekend was $21.1 million, accounting for more than a quarter of its worldwide gross.

4 Barbie Is Warner Bros.' Biggest Opening Weekend For A Non-Sequel/Non-DC Movie

Barbie gave Warner Bros. its biggest opening weekend in seven years — since the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — but without taking into account sequels or DC movies, the 2023 film had the studio's highest opening ever. Warner Bros. has never seen this much cash flow before, not even with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The previous record holder was 2017's It, which debut with $123.4 million worldwide, but that was dethroned by Barbie.

3 Oppenheimer Is The Biggest Opening For An R-Rated Movie Since Joker

Joker had the biggest opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie, grossing $96.2 million worldwide. Nevertheless, there have been some noteworthy R-rated movies since then that had lower opening weekends than Oppenheimer, such as Bad Boys for Life and John Wick: Chapter 4. This is even more impressive given that not only does Oppenheimer have a limited audience due to its R rating, but it's also three hours long, partly presented in black and white, and tackles sensitive subject matter.

2 Barbie Has Already Surpassed The Lifetime Grosses Of Several Female-Led Movies

Barbie's opening-weekend box office gross is already much bigger than the lifetime grosses of many recent female-led movies. The 2018 spinoff Ocean's 8, which is part of a bankable franchise, had a total worldwide gross of $297.7 million, and Greta Gerwig's own Little Women grossed $218.8 million. Even Birds of Prey, which is both led by Margot Robbie and part of Warner Bros.'s DCEU franchise, grossed $205.3 million. These are figures that Barbie didn't even need a full weekend to break.

1 Barbenheimer Is The First Time 2 Movies Have Opened To Over $80 Million Each

When it comes to two movies being released on the same weekend, one movie usually dominates over the other one, whether it's because one had more exposure or marketing or because one of them was negatively received. However, the joint release of Barbie and Oppenheimer is the first time ever that two movies have had domestic grosses of over $80 million in their opening weekends.

Sources: Deadline, Variety, Box Office Mojo