Christopher Nolan embarks on a one-man campaign to push ‘Oppenheimer’ past a billion

Barbie may be on course to break yet another record tomorrow after hogging the majority of the Barbenheimer spotlight, but Oppenheimer continues to have a strong showing of its own; one that may only balloon once again by the time awards season rolls around and gifts Cillian Murphy his Best Actor nod.

For now, though, Christopher Nolan‘s monstrous biopic is on course for an $800 million gross by tomorrow, and the filmmaker himself is all but ready to do that milestone one better by putting his nose to the grindstone and going all out with Oppenheimer‘s Chinese debut.

Per Deadline, Nolan will be doing some groundwork for the film’s Chinese run by rolling up to screenings and fan events in hopes of beefing up Oppenheimer‘s current $477.2 million international gross in the drive for a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. It will be the first time since COVID-19 began ravaging the world that a Hollywood director of Nolan’s caliber will have traveled to the country to promote a film.

At the time of writing, Oppenheimer has grossed $777.2 million at the worldwide box office, and that’s without having tapped the Chinese market. While it still has its work cut out for it, Oppenheimer seems to have all the tools it needs to pull in the $223 million it needs to crack a billion dollars, especially with Nolan personally overseeing this latest step of the campaign.

And though Barbie may have accomplished Oppenheimer‘s current goal in just over two weeks, in no way should Oppenheimer‘s impact on the cultural zeitgeist be downplayed, and we look forward to seeing what sort of legacy it leaves behind.