Vue International Reports Significant Increase in UK Cinema Ticket Sales with Barbie and Oppenheimer

The cinema chain saw its highest weekend admissions since Avengers: Endgame in 2019, with over a fifth of its customers opting to watch both films in a social media-inspired double bill, known as the "Barbenheimer." The two films, which were released on Friday, have very different storylines.

Greta Gerwig's comedy about the eponymous doll and Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller chronicling physicist J.

Robert Oppenheimer's role in developing the first atomic bomb, have captured the attention of cinema-goers.

More than 2,000 of Vue's screenings for Barbie were sold out, according to the company.

The cinema chain's biggest sites for Barbie included Cambridge, Glasgow St Enoch, Leeds Kirkstall, Cwmbran, Islington, Bolton, and Portsmouth.

Vue International's chief executive and founder, Tim Richards, said: "Vue saw its highest weekend admissions since Avengers: Endgame in 2019 with the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer, proving that when the movies are there, our customers will come to watch them on the big screen." Richards added that Barbie is tracking to become the biggest film of 2023 and has a good chance of getting into the Top 10 highest-grossing films of all time.

Odeon reported on Thursday that more than 200,000 advance tickets had been bought, and over 10,000 guests were expected to see both films during the opening weekend.

Universal Pictures said Oppenheimer, which stars Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, had made £8.05 million in the UK and Ireland since Friday.

Farhan Mehmood, a 21-year-old cinema-goer from Scunthorpe, watched Barbie at 2.30 pm followed by the darker Oppenheimer at 5.15 pm with a friend.

He said that the films can "save cinema" as Barbie had a deep message and Oppenheimer left a big shock