Christopher Nolan’s newest movie, Oppenheimer, has smashed records in the world of biographical films. It’s all about the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and, get this, it’s now the biggest biopic ever, even bigger than Bohemian Rhapsody.
Oppenheimer, directed, produced, and written by Christopher Nolan, has made history in the world of cinema. This extraordinary biopic stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and has achieved incredible success. According to Box Office Mojo, Oppenheimer has earned a staggering $912 million worldwide during its time in theaters. This surpasses Bohemian Rhapsody, which earned $910 million in 2018 while depicting the rise of Queen’s frontman, Freddie Mercury.
But here’s the thing, Oppenheimer might be the biggest biopic, but it’s not the biggest movie of 2023. Nope, that title goes to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which, by the way, also came out on the same day as Oppenheimer. And get this, Barbie has made over $1.4 billion globally. That’s a lot of cash. But still, Oppenheimer’s success means Christopher Nolan is like a big deal in the movie world. He did something similar with The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, which also made over a billion bucks.
One reason Oppenheimer did so well is because fans started calling it “Barbenheimer” when it came out at the same time as Barbie. People rushed to the theaters that weekend, and it turned out to be the most money-making weekend in 2023, according to Box Office Mojo.
Oppenheimer is based on a book called American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. Besides Cillian Murphy, there’s a bunch of other famous folks in the movie, like Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, and David Krumholtz. The story is all about the Manhattan Project and making the atomic bomb during World War II.
Paul Dergarabedian, who’s like a movie expert, said Oppenheimer’s global success is like “really impressive” because it made all that money in just nine weeks at the theaters. He said it’s because the movie is super good and has a famous director and a bunch of famous actors, and it went from being a long history movie to a big-time hit. Even though it had some tough times at the end of its theater run, Oppenheimer still won big in the end.
