“Oppenheimer” Hits $900 Million at the International Box Office

The worldwide ticket sales for Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” have reached more than $900 million.

The R-rated historical drama made $12.8 million more worldwide during the weekend, with $10.7 million coming from foreign and $2.1 million coming from domestic sales. With $318 million from North American theatres and $594 million from other countries, “Oppenehimer” has made an astounding $910 million in its first nine weeks of release.

“For ‘Oppenheimer’ to cross the $900 million global mark after just nine weeks in theaters is a remarkable achievement,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst. “It shows how an amazing film with a superstar director and a star-studded cast can turn a three-hour historical epic into a blockbuster mainstream hit.”

As the third-highest grossing film of the year, behind “Barbie” ($1.41 billion) and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.36 billion), “Oppenheimer,” starring Cillian Murphy as the alleged “father of the atomic bomb,” continues to defy expectations. The $1 billion milestone is not out of the question at this rate, but “Oppenheimer” would need to remain in theatres for a number more weeks. (Award recognition as well as theatrical re-releases would be helpful.)

“Those last few miles of any theatrical run are the toughest,” Dergarabedian adds. “But at this point, […] it’s a total winner no matter the ultimate outcome.”

Regardless of whether it reaches that unusual milestone, Universal and Nolan are already making a tonne of money off the $100 million cost movie. After “The Dark Knight” ($1 billion) and “The Dark Knight Rises” ($1.08 billion), it is the third-highest grossing film for the director. Prior to “The Secret Life of Pets” ($894 million), it is the 12th-highest grossing movie in history and the biggest non-franchise film ever for Universal.

“Oppenheimer,” which Nolan shot with Imax cameras, has been extremely well received on the company’s premium format screens, particularly the 70mm prints. With $180 million worldwide, it surpassed “Avatar,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and “Avengers: Endgame” to rank among the top five highest-grossing Imax films ever.

Nolan transformed “Oppenheimer” from the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel “American Prometheus.” The sombre biographical drama follows the American theoretical physicist who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb, which assisted in bringing about the end of World War II. Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, and Alden Ehrenreich are among the cast members.