Oppenheimer makes it past another box office milestone months after its initial release to theaters. Originally released on July 21, 2023, the epic Christopher Nolan J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic has been a huge hit over the past year. Oppenheimer received critical acclaim and went on to receive numerous accolades, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director at the Academy Awards.
As per Collider, Oppenheimer has passed a major IMAX box office milestone this week. To date, Oppenheimer has now passed $190 million in IMAX global box office sales. It did not top IMAX totals this weekend, however, as that honor went to Alex Garland’s A24 thriller Civil War, which added $1.9 million in IMAX sales this weekend. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire brought in $1.1 million in IMAX sales.
Oppenheimer’s additional box office take home in 2024 is likely due to its Oscar win reinvigorating interest in the film. As in the case of many of Nolan’s films, Oppenheimer is a film designed for an IMAX audience. From its explosions to its sweeping score, the biopic intends to encase the audience in sound, not to mention draw them in with its impressive cinematography. Audiences are even more acutely aware of this fact as the film won a number of awards at the Oscars this year, reflecting its technical and creative prowess.
The IMAX experience is so essential to Oppenheimer’s audiovisual landscape that it made it such that this format was highly publicized upon its release. It is unsurprising, then, that IMAX has been the cornerstone to Oppenheimer’s box office success. At the time of writing, Oppenheimer’s worldwide gross comes out to $971.3 million. Thus, Oppenheimer’s IMAX total comprises roughly 21% of Oppenheimer’s overall box office gross. Given the increased price and more limited availability of the format, a ratio of that scale is impressive.
Passing the $190 million mark in IMAX sales is just another one of Oppenheimer’s many box office achievements. As the second quarter of 2024 begins, it will be interesting to see if any other films come close to Oppenheimer-level sales. The blockbusters Dune: Part Two and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire have brought in a combined $180 million. While a decent revenue, even this number does not yet match that of Oppenheimer. The spring will include other big name films, including Furiosa and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which have the chance to prove themselves.
Source: Collider