Barbenheimer's Effect on the Economy

Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

On July 21st, 2023, the Hollywood phenomenon “Barbenheimer” officially hit the screens of local theaters. Both movies dominated the domestic box office in its debut weekend; Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” accumulating $162 million and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” bringing in another $82.5 million. Within only a couple of weeks, the double theatrical whammy has already made its mark in economic data. Although spending in many categories such as online electronics, home improvement, and furniture and lodging fell, the entertainment industry remains an outlier in this trend; Bank of America reported that its cardholders spent 13.2% more on entertainment during the opening week than they had in 2022. However, it is not just the box office that benefited from these movies. The success of “Barbie” has snowballed Mattel’s popularity and fueled sales of other products in their line, including toys, clothing, and other themed merchandise. 

“The blowout success of Taylor Swift's 'Eras' tour, combined with the record box office juice of the 'Barbie' movie, is helping to buoy the economy and prevent a recession," Emily Peck and Felix Salomon wrote for Axios. On the other hand, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell notes the repercussions of the economy heating up too much would be serious issues for the central bank. “At the margin, stronger growth could lead, over time, to higher inflation and that would require an appropriate response for monetary policy,” Powell said. “So we’ll be watching that carefully and seeing how it evolves over time.”

Regardless, the two movies have collectively become the fourth-largest debut in North America history. However, what is the secret to their success? Companies using the media to play on society’s fear of missing out. At first, it was a competition on which movie would be better but, it eventually devolved into a joint event as part of a bigger cultural movement. People were excited to go to the theaters dressed in Barbie’s signature pink to see Gerwig’s feminist, bubbly movie with friends and then, watch Nolan’s visually powerful film, known for its authentic cinematic choices that could only be fully experienced in a huge theater. The two movies’ drastically contrasting themes took social media by storm; hashtags, memes and fan-made content became a driving force behind the success of this cinematic phenomenon. By framing it as something that everyone else was doing, AMC Theatres had more than 20,000 of its AMC Stubs members purchasing tickets to see both films on the same day. Social media convinced people that this movie marathon was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could not be missed and surely enough, Hollywood landed itself one of the biggest movie phenomena in history.