The “Barbenheimer” express is booming along.
Last night, “Barbie” crossed the $500 million line and “Oppenheimer” hit $250 million. That’s just in 22 days of release. Cowabunga! The cross marketing of these films was absolute genius. The result is big bucks for everyone, especially the movie theaters. They’re no doubt selling popcorn and soda by the ton.
On the negative side, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” which cost around $60 million, capsized last night with just $1.9 million. This will be a total write off for Universal. No one knows what a Demeter is, and apparently no one wants to.
“Asteroid City” meanwhile is still playing in 63 theaters despite starting on Peacock streaming. It made $10,000 last night, which can be added to its total of $27.8 million. Even if the entire A list cast was paid scale, just the cost of shooting in Spain and flying everyone around first class, plus the hotels and food etc, the P&L sheet on this movie must be fascinating. One actor who has no lines told me he was there for six weeks!
