Summary

  • Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, has become the third highest-grossing movie of the year, suring Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at the worldwide box office with $854,078,950.
  • This achievement is even more impressive considering Oppenheimer's R-rating, which limits its audience compared to PG-13 superhero films.
  • While Oppenheimer may not sur Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie in of box office earnings, its success should not be underestimated, as it has exceeded expectations for a three-hour historical biopic.

Oppenheimer has sured another superhero blockbuster to become the third-biggest movie of the year. The latest masterpiece from visionary director Christopher Nolan chronicles the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy), the theoretical physicist who directed the development of the atomic bomb and suffered immense political and personal fallout. Since releasing in theaters on July 21, the same day as Barbie, Oppenheimer has continuously exceeded expectations at the box office for an R-rated, three-hour historical biopic.

Now, over a month after its release, Oppenheimer's box office total has set another significant milestone. Per Box Office Mojo, Oppenheimer has sured Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to become the third highest-grossing movie at the 2023 worldwide box office. At the time of writing, Oppenheimer has grossed $854,078,950 worldwide, suring Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's $845,536,306. Oppenheimer still sits well behind Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, both of which have made over $1.3 billion.

Putting Oppenheimer's Box Office Success In Context

Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer with sparks behind him.

Oppenheimer's box office success is even more impressive considering that it's an R-rated movie, which naturally reduces the size of the audience able to see it in theaters, compared to Marvel's PG-13 superhero movies which are marketed to the masses. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is just the latest superhero movie Oppenheimer has blown past on its way to the third-place spot, as it also sits comfortably above Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Flash – the last of which was a box office bomb.

Related: Barbie & Oppenheimer's $2 Billion Box Office Is Going To Teach All The Wrong Lessons To Hollywood

In of the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time, Oppenheimer recently ed Deadpool 2 and sits behind another comic book movie, Joker, for the number one spot, which grossed over $1 billion in 2019. With Nolan's latest blockbuster nearing the end of its phenomenal box office run, it's likely that it will stay in the second place spot behind Joker on the R-rated list, and third place behind Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie in of the 2023 box office. However, Oppenheimer's success should not be understated.

Source: Box Office Mojo