• by Wayne Friedman , August 13, 2023

Warner Bros.' “Barbie” is still in the pink, and green now in its fourth week -- as is Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer" -- with the films pulling in another $33.7 million and $18.8 million, respectively, according to Comscore.

This summer’s unusual theatrical tag team of movies, memed as “Barbenhemier” by social media, has now placed first and second for the fourth week in a row. 

But more importantly, Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, says both movies are maintaining a high level of summer interest -- only dropping 36% (“Barbie”) and 35% (“Oppenheimer") in box-office revenues from the previous week.

The fourth week for "Barbie" has the third-best fourth-week results ever -- behind “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($32.6 million) and not far behind “The Avengers” ($36.7 million).

The recent success of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” according to analysts, is partly due to studios delaying movie openings as a result of the writers' and actors' strikes.

One film -- Sony Pictures’ “Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story” -- was scheduled to debut this past weekend, but is now delayed two weeks because of the strikes.

Many actors looking to support the strikes are declining to participate in marketing and/or earned-media efforts when it comes to promoting films in the press.

Movies that have the highest national TV spending which have yet to open include “Gran Turismo”, $4.65 million (opening August 25); Warner Bros. “Blue Beetle”, $4.52 million (August 18); Sony Pictures’, “The Equalizer” (September 1), $3.95 million; and Universal Pictures’ “Strays”, $3.4 million (August 18).