There are a few reasons why Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a three-hour long drama for adults, has made $657 million (and counting) at the worldwide box office. For one thing, it’s a very good movie from one of the few directors who can sell a project on his name alone. The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon has also helped, with tens of thousands of same-day double features of Barbie and Oppenheimer (or the correct order, Oppenheimer then Barbie).
But one side effect of Oppenheimer coming out the same day as Barbie is that it’s never reached #1 at the box office. It’s been stuck in the pole position or, during the weekend that Meg 2: The Trench came out, third place. In fact, Oppenheimer is now the highest-grossing domestic movie of all time to never reach the top spot at the box office. It beat, of all things, Sing.
Oppenheimer added another $2.6 million on Wednesday, which brought its domestic total to $272.6 million. Since it constantly had Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie holding it back from taking first place, it’s now the current holder of that strange record to have. Similarly, Sing [which made $270.3 million] had the behemoth Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to compete against when it was released in December 2016.
The other big grossers that never hit #1 include My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Nolan must be thrilled to be in such great company.
(Via Gold Derby)