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Christopher Nolan’sOppenheimerhas overtakenBohemian Rhapsodyas the highest ever grossing biopic. The film starring Cillian Murphy as the father of the atomic bomb, Robert J. Oppenheimer, has now grossed $912.7 million across the globe, taking it pastQueen biopicBohemian Rhapsody’s $910.8 million.
Oppenheimerhas already broken box office records this summer. It is Universal Studio’s highest grossing R-rated film, and currently the third-highest grossing film of 2023 behindBarbieandThe Super Mario Bros. Movie. It is also Nolan’sthird highest grossing film, afterThe Dark KnightandThe Dark Knight Rises.
The film no doubt benefited from being released at the same time as Greta Gerwig’s smash hitBarbie, with the #barbenheimer hashtag encouraging movie-goers to see both films. The double feature inspiredlively commentaryfrom bothconservative punditsandavid fans of film, while also incitingcriticism for cultural insensitivity.Warner Bros. U.S. issued an apology to its Japanese distribution arm for sharing social media content through the officialBarbieaccount that Warner Bros. Japan deemed inconsiderate. “Warner Brothers regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement. The studio offers a sincere apology,” the company shared in a statement, according toVariety.
Rolling Stonecalled Nolan’s starry biopic, which is adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning bookAmerican Prometheus,a“big, loud, must-see.”“Oppenheimeris one of those shoot-for-the-moon projects that feels thrilling and wonky, brilliant and overstuffed, too much and yet not enough,” writes David Fear. “It’s also a movie that brings to mind the difficult era-spanning epics of yesteryear, fromRedstoThe Right Stuff,and is a movie made by adults for adults yet done with the sweep and majesty we now associate with movies made for kids and teens.”
