What was the budget for ‘Oppenheimer?’

Life’s been weird for awhile now, but 2023 still managed to sport several extra-wild occurrences over the course of its passage.

Two warring Hollywood strikes, a pair of devastating wars, a range of natural disasters, and Taylor Swift’s pop culture-shattering tour were all practically side-notes in a year so overstuffed with happenings no one remembers when things were simply “precedented.” Tossed into the midst of yet another year of unprecedented happenings was a box office weekend that somehow became one of the biggest sensations of 2023. Neither Barbie or Oppenheimer were expected to stop the globe in its tracks, but as a pair the films did just that.

A craze that quickly became known as Barbenheimer popped off in the lead-up to the release of two of 2023’s biggest releases. By the time Oppenheimer and Barbie actually arrived on screens, both on July 21, the craze around viewing these starkly opposing films had spread across the globe. It became the “it” thing to enjoy a double feature of the perky, pink-drenched Barbie alongside Christopher Nolan’s gritty recollection of the father of the atomic bomb. Millions of people took part in the mid-summer craze, and permanently shifted the prospects of both films.

Don’t get me wrong, both Barbie and Oppenheimer were clear candidates for high-dollar box office performance, but they did far better due to the Barbenheimer craze than they ever would have done solo. As a result of the weird, wild world we live in, however, both films absolutely dominated at the box office, bringing in far more money than initially expected.

Oppenheimer‘s budget

Oppenheimer, for one, netted more than $950 million during its box office run, landing at number three on 2023’s list of highest-grossing films. The release pulled in a whopping $325.3 million domestically and $625.2 million internationally, blasting past the competition to land just below Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie on 2023’s list of cinematic earners.

That’s a far cry from the film’s reported $100 million budget. Even with all those explosions the release managed to avoid over-spending, and as a result netted a good $850 million even after expenses. If only every Hollywood effort was so successful.