'Barbie' & 'Oppenheimer' Box Office Mania Begins: Doll Eyes Around $20 Million, Nolan Epic Previews $9 Million

EXCLUSIVE: The box office event of the year that brought Warner Bros. mass female attraction, Barbie, and Universal's Christopher Nolan directed, Oppenheimer, has officially fired its confetti guns with the movies grossing an estimated $20 million and $9 million, respectively, from their previews. Again, these numbers could fluctuate between now and the morning.

Even if Barbie doesn't hit $20 million, she's sure to release some of the best previews this summer; Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which grossed $17.5 million on Thursday night (which included $400,000 from Imax showings on Wednesday). The Greta Gerwig-directed feature film about the Mattel doll has previews that will include Wednesday's "Barbie Blowout Parties" at 500 sites as well as show money that started tonight at 3,400 sites at 3 p.m.

The R-rated 3-hour Oppenheimer began sessions today at 5 p.m. Barbie will play in 4,200 theaters by Friday, while Oppenheimer, jus by Imax, will have 3,600 theaters.

To say the projections are bullish is an understatement. Presales for Barbie are the best the industry has seen since Avatar: The Way of the Water according to Box Office Company, its rivals are confident the film will gross between $100 million and $130 million. Ditto for Oppenheimer tipping the scales beyond $50 million; in total, the third time this year, the entire weekend is expected to total around $200 million for all movies. Critics love both movies with Barbie 89% Certified Fresh and Oppenheimer 93% Certified Fresh.

Barbie Sizing: This preview figure is larger than other female-biased pics like Beauty and the Beast ($16.3M Thursday, $63.7M Friday, and $174.7M 3-Day), near Hunger Games > ($19.7M Thursday, $67) $0.2M Friday, $152.5M 3-Day), and below 2009's Twilight Saga: New Moon ($26.3M Thursday, $72.7M Friday, $142.8M 3-Day).

Oppenheimer is decimating the premieres of Nolan's Dunkirk ($5.5M Thursday, $19.7M Friday, $50.5M 3 Days), and is near fanboy films like Doctor Strange, Eternals, Logan and Shang-Chi. As a very talkative adult drama, Oppenheimer breaks the mold when it comes to compositions. Dunkirk was not frontloaded, with its Thursday making up 28% of Friday. The return Thursday and Friday brought in $14.2 million, with Saturday up 23% with $17.5 million. The question is whether Oppenheimer is following the path of a fanboy movie, like the R-rated Logan which at 2 hours and 17 minutes had a $9.5 million Thursday, $33 million Friday, and $88.4 million over 3 days. A fun weekend is in store.

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