July 21, 2023, saw the release of both Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie and Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer, and rather than cannibalize each other’s audience, this synergistic counter-programming resulted in the fourth biggest combined weekend box office of all time.

But the numbers don’t lie. Barbie is more popular than Oppenheimer, earning twice as much. Their combined total is well over $1B to date.

My take: It appears plastic out-punches plutonium.