AMC just had its best week in history, thanks to Barbie and Oppenheimer

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN

(CNN) — AMC Theaters (AMC) hit a revenue record last week, driven by the overwhelming success of the “Barbenheimer” pop culture craze.

In a news release on Sunday, the world’s largest theater chain announced that from July 21-27, it earned its largest single-week admissions revenue since the company’s founding in 1920. AMC attributed this 103-year high to the incredible opening weekend of both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” as well as the strong momentum that continued to carry them along.

“Barbenheimer” had tremendous staying power in its second weekend in theaters, with “Barbie” grossing $93 million and “Oppenheimer” almost $47 million, according to official studio numbers.

Last weekend was AMC’s busiest since the pandemic forced theaters to close in 2020, the company said, and this weekend marked the chain’s third-busiest worldwide since reopening. It reported that 65 AMC locations across 19 states and Washington, DC, set their own box office records this week as well. AMC shares were up about 7% in late-afternoon trading, to about $4.99.

In its opening weekend, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” had raked in a stunning $162 million domestically, giving the film the biggest debut of 2023. It’s also the largest-ever for a female director. Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” opened at $82.5 million, according to media analytics company Comscore.

Combined, the movies have made more than a billion dollars globally in just 10 days.

(CNN and Warner Bros., which distributed “Barbie,” are both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery).

– CNN’s Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.

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