Oppenheimer is about to become the highest-grossing biopic of all time
With apologies to Bohemian Rhapsody, Christopher Nolan's historical drama is continuing to break records even as the summer of Barbenheimer winds down
Aux News Oppenheimer
Although we’ve now cruised comfortably past the summer of Barbenheimer, that hasn’t stopped the latter portion of that particular cinematic portmanteau from racking up a few last major wins. Which is to say that Christopher Nolan’s tale of the creation of the atomic bomb (and the petty rivalries and bickering that surrounded and followed it) is poised to break the $900 million mark at the international box office this week—which will make Oppenheimer the most successful biopic of all time.
Cillian Murphy’s turn as J. Robert O will take the crown from Oscar-winner Bohemian Rhapsody, which made $903 million during its 2018-2019 run at the box office. (It picked up another $7 million with a brief return engagement in 2020.) Like Bryan Singer’s Freddie Mercury biopic (which won Oppenheimer co-star Rami Malek the Best Actor Oscar in 2019), Nolan’s film was propelled by a strong showing at the international box office. The movie did especially well in the U.K., Germany, and, surprisingly, China, which ended up spending $48 million on a film focused on Oppenheimer’s ambiguous relationships with both his creations, and his government. (Way less ambiguous: The film’s non-existent reception in Japan, which never even bothered with a release. Bohemian Rhapsody, by comparison, made a massive $115 million in the country.)
Although it’s been dwarfed by Greta Gerwig’s Barbie throughout its theatrical run, that’s really only a relative deficit for Nolan’s film: Oppenheimer is the director’s most successful movie since he stopped making Batman flicks circa 2012, and is still bringing in small amounts of cash even in its 9th weekend in theaters. And god only knows what’ll happen whenever Oscar season actually rolls around: We wouldn’t be surprised to see Universal roll the movie right back out to remind people why it’s likely to be nominated for so many awards.
21 Comments
Sigh. So Chris Nolan’s not fucking off any time soon?
Agreed. Remember when he used all of his power to get Tenet in theaters during the worst of the pandemic?
I’m all for preserving the cinema – for all films, not just blockbusters – but by christ he was such a whiny pissbaby about that.Wonder how many people he got killed?
Oh my god, you nerds are still on this? Zero. He got zero people killed. A bunch of obese and old people died because they were gonna die anyway. Deal with it you losers.
Imagine dying for Tenet. Ouch.
Now imagine dying for Tenet… but, like, in reverse!It’s okay if you’re not smart enough to imagine that, though. Christopher Nolan forgives you.IN REVERSE.
*Han Zimmer Noises*
This makes me so unreasonably happy. God almighty is Bohemian Rapsody shit, seeing a genuinely clever historical biopic that doesn’t do all the clichés like its the ww2 equivalent of Walk The Line is so great. Also by my count this would make it the highest grossing ww2 film ever adjusted for inflation. Hell yes.
I am still irrationally angry that Bohemian Rhapsody won the Oscar for best editing when its editing is, objectively, terrible. The editing is so intrusive and illogical that it made a bad movie downright unpleasant to watch. Bohemian Rhapsody was safe and lifeless. It didn’t take chances and it didn’t do enough to establish the film’s perspective, so much of the film felt unmotivated. I’m still shaking my head how Bohemian Rhapsody garnered five Oscar nominations (and four wins!) while a year later Rocketman, which is a far superior music biopic, earned only one. There is no justice. So yeah, I’m glad to see Oppenheimer dethrone Bohemian Rhapsody. Oppenheimer is far more worthy of acclaim.
One of the most baffling Oscae wins ever.
The root is Ancient Greek, so the plural would actually be Oscapodes
I live for sarcasm like this.
I think “Joker” would like a word.
Generally, biopics are based on real people.
This is indeed quite a crucial distinction
I completely agree.
No need to apologize to BR, although that’s gracious of you. It did well monetarily but it was terrible. It’s unfortunate that many argue that box office success means “success,” but that’s the kind of cred that gets more movies made. I just checked the listings at our local theatre. I wouldn’t watch any of that on streaming.
Is it good to see the world of entertainment elevated by an informative movie? Sure! Is it encouraging to see a very strong reception to a well-produced one? Absolutely!
Put another marble in the bowl, I guess
All this acclaim is really going to confuse folks in a decade or so.
Well deserved. Hopefully a Best Director Oscar win isn’t far behind.