The global box office for Christopher Nolan’s nuclear thriller has reached $912 million.
As Universal’s ‘Oppenheimer’ reaches the end of its impressive theatrical run, it clinches yet another significant win at the Box Office by becoming the highest-grossing biopic in the history of cinema.
Christopher Nolan's #Oppenheimer is now officially the highest-grossing biopic ever 💰 pic.twitter.com/vRXBw6YcfB
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) September 17, 2023
During its ninth weekend on the big screens, ‘Oppenheimer’ raked in an additional $12 million worldwide, escalating its global earnings to a glorious $912.7 million. This achievement broke the record set previously by the Freddie Mercury biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, which amassed $902 million in 2018, before adjusting for inflation.
@DiscussingFilm tweet ‘Oppenheimer’ crowned as the highest-grossing biopic masterpiece, leaving ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ behind which crossed 1.5M views.
‘OPPENHEIMER’ has become the highest grossing biopic of all time, passing ‘BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY’. pic.twitter.com/7lKolHRxnf
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 16, 2023
The fact that ‘Oppenheimer’ would reach its current level of success is something very few had anticipated when the film hit the cinemas on July 21. Universal certainly didn’t foresee this, as insiders informed TheWrap that the studio had initially agreed with Nolan to create this film with the expectation that its performance would mirror that of his previous WW2 film ‘Dunkirk’, which earned $525 million globally.
Alternatively, ‘Oppenheimer’ has secured the third spot as the highest-grossing film of the year 2023 and also that of Nolan’s career. This three-hour, R-rated drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb outperformed “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” in terms of box office revenue.
Nolan’s appeal as a director has demonstrated that it spans borders in a box office industry where movies about real-world issues have been mostly overlooked by audiences.
Because of Universal’s promotion of the film as a significant cinematic event ignited within the audience not only an eagerness to watch ‘Oppenheimer’ but also to experience the film on the big screens possible. Imax revealed that it earned an enormous $179 million due to ‘Oppenheimer’, which is am estimated 20% of the film’s total box office revenue.
With the present uncertainty surrounding the awards season in Hollywood, owing to strikes by both writers and actors, ‘Oppenheimer’ is expected to emerge as a strong contender at this year’s Academy Awards. If “Oppenheimer” wins Best Picture, it will be the highest-grossing film to do so since “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” grossed $1.1 billion 20 years ago. In fact, it would be the first Best Picture winner to make more than $500 million at the box office since 2003.
