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Barbenheimer continues to draw big audiences on its second weekend.

Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” took in $29 million just last night. In one night. its second Friday! “Barbie” could pull off a staggering $90 million weekend. What a doll!

Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” made $13.4 million at the same time.

The way it’s been running so far, “Oppy” makes about half of the “Barbie” haul every day. And that isn’t bad!

“Barbie” is off by 59% from last Friday, but with these high numbers that’s to be expected.

I told you a couple of weeks ago that the studios were starting to move their releases to 2024.

It’s all because of the SAG and WGA strikes. Instead of negotiating to end this thing, the studio heads are just moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Now Sony Pictures is delaying its potential 2023 fall hits to 2024. That includes the new “Ghostbusters” movie from its planned launch on December 20th to Easter 2024. That move pushes the next SpiderVerse movie to who knows when? The film still needs voice actors to work, and they can’t because of the strike.

Another 2023 release, “Kraven the Hunter,” from Sony/ Marvel will now wait til next summer for release. It was set to go on October 6th.

Little by little the fall schedule is being dismantled, which will have a serious effect on the Oscars and other awards shows. Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” will be released on October 6th, although so far no festival screenings have been announced. Scorsese films have often been the “surprise” screening at the New York Film Festival, and that may be the case again.

But with movies like Ethan Coen’s “Drive Away Dolls” now being moved by Focus Features to 2024, the number of possible nominees for Best Picture is shrinking. “Killers,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Air” were already certain. Now “Barbie” picks up speed with little competition. Stay tuned for more announcements of delayed premieres as the strikes prevent actors from promoting their films.

The real hit of the summer? “Oppenheimer.”

In one week, the three hour movie about scientist talking through how to build a bomb has made $117 in the US and another $124 million abroad.

Everyone’s going to see it, not just art house audiences.. Even celebrities are plunking down their 20 bucks. Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg were each spotted in East Hampton. Blythe Danner went to the Sag Harbor Cinema. I’m sure there are many more instances.

Of course, “Oppenheimer” is an A plus movie. It deserves all the accolades and attention. But without the Barbenheimer marketing, it would not have been so much. “Oppenheimer” smartly piggy backed on “Barbie,” making the experience of seeing them in one sitting an event. It’s kind of a once in a lifetime thing in cross-referencing two very different movies.

“Oppenheimer” will play well through Labor Day, ease off, and come back in the late fall for awards season. Christopher Nolan’s film could pick up nominations in every Oscar category easily. Winning isn’t the issue right now. But it’s a helluva story for future schedules.

No one could have foreseen this disaster.

Last summer, the whole movie season was about Tom Cruise saving theaters with “Top Gun Maverick.”

But what a difference a year makes. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are booming after just 1 week, adding theaters and breaking records.

But “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” is sitting there like a lox. Today, Paramount is withdrawing it from 1,300 theaters in its 3rd week. Total box office is around $125 million, a fraction of what the studio — and frankly what all of us — thought would happen.

To make matters worse “Dead Reckoning” is Part 1. With these results, there’s legitimate fear about how to gin up excitement about the sequel which is due next summer. The price tag for Part 1 is said to be about $300 million because of well, everything involved. The total price for both movies could be $400 million or more.

So far, the worldwide gross for Part 1 is around $400 million with most that from foreign countries.

It isn’t like Part 1 didn’t get good reviews. Critics loved it, and audiences that saw it did, too. But it was all about timing. According to insiders, Paramount was scared that “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” would be a massive hit, so they stayed away from July 4th weekend thinking Indy’s second weekend would be a monster.

As it turned out, “Dial of Destiny” made no impact in its second weekend and July 4th was wasted. By the time “Mission Impossible” launched, “Barbenheimer” was looming. Indeed “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were so well marketed together and apart, that they moved in on Part 1’s territory fast. And now those two have eaten up IMAX theaters, regular theaters, and audience disposable income.

What will happen to “Dead Reckoning Part Two”? Post-production is underway, but there had better be some surprises — like some characters rising from the dead maybe? Let’s hope there’s a plot twist of all time!