- Restored 'Apollo Belvedere' marble back on show in the Vatican
- Boeing to raise up to $25 bn as strike weighs on finances
- Oil prices fall on easing Middle East fears
- Boeing announces intention to raise up to $25 bn
- Ferguson to leave Man Utd ambassador role as club cuts costs
- Oil prices tumble on easing Middle East fears
- Oil prices hit by easing Middle East fears, most Asian markets rise
- Hopes pinned on peace across Taiwan Strait after drills
- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
- King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
RBGPF | 1.67% | 60.5 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.57% | 6.99 | $ | |
SCS | 1.14% | 13.13 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.6% | 24.84 | $ | |
NGG | 0.68% | 67.35 | $ | |
GSK | -0.01% | 39.125 | $ | |
RIO | -1.94% | 66.41 | $ | |
RELX | 1.82% | 48.26 | $ | |
BTI | -0.01% | 35.445 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.68% | 25.151 | $ | |
VOD | -0.05% | 9.675 | $ | |
BCE | 2.7% | 33.465 | $ | |
BP | -3.77% | 30.829 | $ | |
JRI | 0.1% | 13.1 | $ | |
AZN | -0.66% | 77.585 | $ | |
BCC | 0.09% | 143.11 | $ |
Opposites attract: 'Barbenheimer' double debut to rock US, Canada
An iconic doll ready to paint the world pink and the scientist who helped invent the atomic bomb -- an unlikely pair and apparently a match made in box office heaven.
Millions of moviegoers are expected to dive into the very different worlds of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" as the two blockbusters premiere on Friday, with many planning to see both -- a five-hour feat -- the same day.
More than 200,000 viewers across North America are projected to have already signed up for a "same-day double feature" of both movies this weekend, said Michael O'Leary, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners.
This adds to millions of others worldwide planning to catch them on separate days, he said.
The parallel opening has sparked a flurry of memes -- with social media users parodying their outfit transitions between the movies -- and even merchandise, in a phenomenon dubbed "Barbenheimer."
- Pop culture moment -
The online marketing for "Barbie" has "caught fire in its own way, appealing to a generational audience and an underserved female audience," while director Christopher Nolan has his own fanbase, noted Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice Pro.
"They intersected in a way that turned it into this really unpredictable pop culture moment, that has turned into the 'Barbenheimer' meme," he told AFP.
This has "maybe elevated the profiles of both movies in a way that neither of them might have had, had they opened on different weekends," Robbins said.
David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research added: "It's the moviegoers taking over and making it their own."
The films will help each other, not compete with each other, by creating excitement for moviegoing, he said.
"I can't recall anything like it" in recent memory, added Gross, noting that box office projections are already off-the-charts.
Robbins expects "Barbie" -- a nearly two-hour tongue-in-cheek take that sees the doll plunge into the real world -- could bring in over $140 million for the weekend.
"Oppenheimer," a three-hour historic thriller, could exceed $50 million for the weekend but was designed to play out over a longer period, he added.
While an actors' and writers' strike is underway, the casts of both films, including Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Cillian Murphy, participated partially in premieres.
- 'Completely different' -
Consultant Melanie Kelley plans to see both films the same day with her friends, starting with "Oppenheimer" in the morning and then, after a long break, ending over dinner at the theater in a fuchsia extravaganza.
"These movies have a lot of hype around them because they're really interesting and completely different from each other. That, coupled with getting the chance to spend a day in a movie theater -- I'm in," she told AFP.
The last she remembers of an opening weekend frenzy was going to see "Jurassic Park" as a child.
Kelley, 39, who is based in Colorado, has listened to a podcast about Robert Oppenheimer to understand his history, adding that she is curious to see how much filmmakers would delve into his personal life.
Meanwhile, she said: "Barbie's definitely been a huge part of my childhood, and I think the irony that (director) Greta Gerwig is going to bring to this movie will make it even more nostalgic for me."
A.Mykhailo--CPN