Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” entered their opening weekends with extremely high expectations. Besides being highly anticipated works from A-list auteurs, both films were tasked with salvaging a disappointing summer box office after the likes of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Elemental failed to catch on as cultural phenomenons. Strong early leads and endless “Barbenheimer” memes about seeing wildly different films as a double feature made this the biggest movie weekend of the summer.
While the box office figures are still in circulation, moviegoers who have seen the films are leaving satisfied. CineScore has revealed that both films received an “A” grade from fans after opening on Friday.
It’s an A for @OppenheimerFilm!! Congratulations to all the cast and crew members! 🤩 @Chris_Nolann @UniversalPics #Oppenheimer #CinemaScore pic.twitter.com/HpQ0abZjNv
— CinemaScore (@CinemaScore) July 22, 2023
It's an A!! Congrats to all of the cast & crew!!💕 @barbiethemovie @gerwigupdates @wbpictures #Barbie #CinemaScore pic.twitter.com/g2t7Im6GpR
— CinemaScore (@CinemaScore) July 22, 2023
CinemaScore scores are widely interpreted as a barometer of how well a film matches audience expectations. It’s not unusual for poorly rated movies to get great scores, since poll contributors are people who were already interested enough to pay to see the movie. Conversely, rated films can receive negative CinemaScore grades for making bold choices that subvert audience expectations.
While “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are two of the boldest studio films to be released in 2023, their marketing campaigns never promised a conventional movie theater experience. Trailers and posters for “Barbie” teased an absurdist, ambiguous look for Mattel’s toy line. Critics were quick to declare that the finished product lived up to that promise.
“Gerwig and [Noah] Baumbach finds humor and nuance in everything from mini-fridges to Matchbox Twenty’s hit ‘Push,’ men’s drive to explain ‘The Godfather’ to the Supreme Court, the limits of modern feminism to neon-glow Rollerblades,” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote in her review. “Barbie isn’t just everything, ‘Barbie’ is everything.”
And while the spread of Cillian Murphy’s face in Oppenheimer marketing materials was occasionally mocked, Universal made no effort to hide that it was releasing a cerebral Christopher Nolan biopic.
“Oppenheimer offers an indelible portrait of the era when people began to wield power they couldn’t necessarily control, and few films have so disturbingly crystallized the horror of opening Pandora’s box,” wrote David Ehrlich of IndieWire in his review of the film. “Even fewer have more detailed anxiety about living in a world that can never be closed again.”
