By Greg Wong | Examiner staff writer
“Barbenheimer” has arrived in San Francisco.
Tens of thousands of American moviegoers, many dressed head to toe in hot pink garb or gray pork pie hats, are expected to flock to the silver screen in the coming days to watch “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the two contrasting summer blockbusters that opened worldwide on Thursday.
The City’s movie palaces are expecting the internet-fueled phenomenon to bring scores of much-needed patrons back to the theaters, the likes of which they haven’t seen in years.
“We’re climbing in sales in a way that we haven’t seen since before the pandemic,” Adam Bergeron, who with his wife owns and operates the Balboa Theater, told The Examiner.
“It’s not just ticket sales, it’s also the concession sales,” he continued. “Movies that are this popular on their opening weekend are bound to remain popular for a few weeks too. So it definitely carries a big load for a littler theater like the Balboa.”
The “Barbenheimer” twin-bill experience, where viewers watch both movies back-to-back in the same day, gathered viral steam in recent months due to the stark juxtaposition of the two simultaneous premieres.
There’s the Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling-led, star studded and cotton-candy colored “Barbie” — which brings to life the ubiquitous plastic fashion doll — pressed against the melancholy, explosive, and black-and-white tone of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” The latter tells the story of the UC Berkeley physicist behind the atomic bombs which decimated Japan in World War II.
The two films’ convergence has birthed a deluge of viral memes, jokes and TikTok videos, and it couldn’t come at a better time for theaters in The City and across the country: Variety reported that “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are projected to rake in $95 million to $110 million and $50 million, respectively, this weekend.
San Francisco movie theaters say they expect the two smash hits to carry them to their most profitable weekend of the year. That’s especially critical as box offices nationwide struggle to lure moviegoers back to the theaters following the pandemic.
CNBC reported that overall movie ticket sales are up 20% from last year, but still trail pre-pandemic levels by 21%. In addition, the number of wide releases, films shown in 2,000 theaters or more, has also fallen. Theaters are hopeful that upcoming blockbusters, including “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” will steer them to a big second half of 2023.
Box office issues have been magnified by the majority of Hollywood’s workforce hitting the picket lines. More than 11,000 screenwriters have been on strike since May, stopping roughly 80% of entertainment productions. Last week, 160,000 actors and actresses followed suit, the first time both unions have been on strike together since 1960.
A swath of Bay Area theaters have also closed in recent years, including several prominent ones in San Francisco’s Cinemark in Westfield Mall and the CGV along Van Ness Avenue just this year.
Bergeron of the Balboa said a twin bill like “Barbenheimer” can “absolutely” lift the fortunes of his business.
He told The Examiner they sold around 1,000 tickets for the two movies through Sunday, and they completely sold out of their 7:30 “Barbie” showings on Friday and Saturday. Thursday’s showing at the same time also sold out.
Bergeron guessed that a “decent amount” of patrons will be seeing both movies back-to-back, though he couldn’t determine an exact number.
Alamo Drafthouse spokesperson John Laird echoed that they also expect to have their biggest weekend of the year at the Mission district theater. It is sold out of over half of their “Barbie” screenings through the next week, and nearly all of the “Barbie” and the 70mm “Oppenheimer” screenings this weekend have also sold out.
“We haven’t really seen something like this (at this location) before,” he said.
Neither theater is featuring any discounted rate for patrons planning to watch both films on the same day, so you still have to buy a separate ticket for each movie. But Bergeron said they have multiple showtimes for each film that pair nicely with each other and allow “Barbenheimer” participants to seamlessly transition from each film to the next.
For example, he recommended watching a 2:00 p.m. Oppenheimer showing before taking a dinner break when it ends around 5:15 p.m. and concluding by watching Barbie at 7:30 p.m. Or, for a more viewer-friendly experience, watch Barbie first at 4:30, which will segue directly into the 7:00 p.m. Oppenheimer.
The Drafthouse is offering special Barbie merchandise and party screenings which they describe as a “immersive, interactive experience for cinema fans featuring fun props, and themed drinks.”
Meanwhile, the Presidio Theatre will solely screen “Barbie,” while the adjacent Marina Theatre will only be showing “Oppenheimer.” Lee Neighborhood Theaters, which runs both venues, told The Examiner they wanted to separate each film at each theater since they are only two blocks away from each other.
AMC Theaters, which owns venues in the Financial District’s Metreon and Japantown, reported that 40,000 people nationwide have bought tickets to watch both in sequential viewings.
Among those is Sophia Tavasieff, a San Francisco native and resident, who attended “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” showings consecutively — with dinner mixed in between — on Thursday night at the Kabuki Theatre. Each show was already almost sold out when she bought the tickets earlier this week, forcing her to purchase seats near the front row.
Taviaseff joined the many in the crowd, including herself, who dressed as Barbie, J. Robert Oppenheimer, or some combination of the two. She estimated that around 70% of the “Barbie” crowd was dressed up, as opposed to roughly 20% to 30% of the “Oppenheimer” audience.
Taviaseff added she has “definitely” noticed the buzz around The City in the lead up to the premieres.
“It’s fun walking around town, seeing all the ‘Barbie’ displays,” Taviaseff said. “I work as a server in a restaurant and have Barbie nails on, and everyone has been complimenting me on them.”