UK cinemas had the busiest weekend for ticket sales in four years thanks to the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer – with some brands suggesting as many as a fifth of customers saw both in one day.The two films, released on Friday, have contrasting storylines, causing the tandem release to become something of a meme online.
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00:00 Barbenheimer has blown up the UK's box office, generating almost £30 million in revenue.
00:07 Barbie and Oppenheimer are parallel universes apart.
00:10 The first is based on the iconic doll and brings a splash of pink to our lives,
00:15 whilst the other is a dark epic based on the father of the atomic bomb.
00:20 The sheer scale of Barbie's marketing campaign, combined with the framing of Barbie and Oppenheimer,
00:26 means two contrasting movies have been dubbed as a double feature.
00:30 Thus, Barbenheimer was born, creating a frenzy for cinema goers.
00:35 Many viewers opted for a double viewing of both films in one sitting.
00:39 How they felt when they left the cinema depended on which film they decided to watch last.
00:44 Chief Executive of VIEW International, Tim Richards said,
00:48 "The numbers are phenomenal. We had over 500,000 customers come to VIEW on the weekend alone.
00:54 We had 4,000 sold-out sessions, 2,000 sold-out sessions alone for Barbie."
01:00 The films come at a great time to entice film lovers back to the cinema,
01:04 after moviegoing slumped during the COVID pandemic.
01:08 Which film did you enjoy the most?