10 Best Box Office Opening Weekend Matchups Like Barbenheimer, Ranked

"Barbenheimer" stunned the moviegoing world in 2023 when two very different movies topped the domestic charts. "Barbie" led the weekend, earning $162 million, behind only "Beauty & The Beast" for a female-led, non-sequel. Meanwhile, "Oppenheimer" blew up the box office with $82 million, landing at number two with one of the biggest R-rated openings ever.

Not bad for a feminist satire of a plastic doll and a three-hour biopic about a nuclear physicist. No two movies could be more different ... and that was the point. Sure, both would have succeeded on their own, but each elevated the other, creating a pop culture phenomenon bigger than its individual parts. Even though "Barbenheimer" was the first to have a clever, trending name, it wasn't the first example of successful counter-programming. In fact, Hollywood has deployed this strategy for decades. Now we're counting down the biggest ones based on the box office.

But first, I'm only counting movies that opened on the same weekend at No. 1 and No. 2. I'll also be ranking these matchups based on what the top two movies earned (unadjusted for inflation), not the entire weekend box office. Finally, I won't include opening weekends with an insane discrepancy. For example, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" out-earned the openings for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" and "Sisters" by $233 million. ("The Chipmunks Awaken" this was not.) "Barbenheimer" banked the most with a combined $244 million — but what other opening weekend matchups earned a bundle?

Rocky Balboa went toe-to-toe with Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, and Ivan Drago, but was taken down by a 10-year-old tyke with a penchant for booby traps. In fairness, Kevin McCallister could KO anyone with enough prep time. No "Eye of the Tiger" needed, just a BBQ heater, some string, and a couple of paint cans. "Rocky V" may have been 35 years and four "Rocky/Creed" movies ago, but it was supposed to be the franchise finale, and the big hit of the 1990 holiday season. It's easy to see why. In 1985, "Rocky IV" won the Cold War and earned $300 million worldwide, which, even unadjusted for inflation, is still the franchise's high-water mark. "The Italian Stallion" hanging up his gloves for what we thought was the last time should have minted a mighty purse, but it ran into the unexpected juggernaut that was "Home Alone."

"Rocky V" opened November 16-18, 1990, to a respectable $14 million ($34 million adjusted for inflation), but it landed at No.2 behind "Home Alone," which opened at $17 million ($42 million adjusted). What makes "Home Alone" even more impressive is that it opened in 800 fewer theaters than "Rocky V," so its per-theater average was more than twice as much. Combined, "Rocky Alone" earned $31 million ($76 million adjusted). Yep, Kevin McCallister clobbered Rocky Balboa, but hey, Rocky's all about the comebacks. The "Rocky"/"Creed" series is still going strong with $1.9 billion worldwide, while "Home Alone" eventually went straight-to-video/streaming.

The summer of 1989 saw some of the wildest box-office weekends, as not one, not two, but three movies broke the opening weekend record in less than a few weeks. "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" lassoed off with a record $29.4 million ($76 million adjusted) on May 24, bested by "Ghostbusters 2" scaring up a teeny bit more ($29.5 million), breaking the record on June 16. But the very next weekend, "Batman" obliterated them both, earning almost $40.5 million (roughly $105 million), setting the opening weekend record it held for three years until "Batman Returns" broke it in 1992. "Indy 3" and "Ghostbusters 2" had record-breaking runs that whetted audiences' appetite for the movies, while Bat-Mania created an opening weekend FOMO that changed the industry, making the first three days "must-see" for moviegoers, and a "must-win" for movie studios.

But it's easy to forget that movies used to open slow and steady, building an audience over weeks and even months. Such as the movie that opened at No. 2 on June 23, "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids." The Rick Moranis-starring family flick took home a darn fine $14.3 million ($37 million adjusted) and had massive gains, earning $131 million worldwide. By counter-programming a family film against a blockbuster-budgeted juggernaut, Disney turned "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" into a big hit, and created a big win for the whole industry. Together, "Batman" and "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" opened to close to $55 million, or over $142 million adjusted for inflation.

It's a tale as old as time: Girl drags guy to romantic comedy movie; guy drags girl to giant monster movie. Many couples were able to kill two birds with one stone during the weekend of January 18-20, 2008, when a monster movie and a romantic comedy opened on the same day. "Cloverfield" capitalized on the buzz from its mysterious marketing campaign to stomp away with $40 million (roughly $60 million), setting the January opening weekend record it held for six years. Landing in second was "27 Dresses," leveraging Katherine Heigl's "Grey's Anatomy" star power to earn $23 million (or $34 million). A romantic comedy making that much money in its opening weekend based solely on a TV actor's fame sounds crazy today, but the movie business was a very different place in 2008.

"Cloverfield" won the battle, but only barely won the war. The found footage monster movie was heavily front-loaded and closed with $80 million domestic and $172 million worldwide. Meanwhile, "27 Dresses" walked down the aisle with $77 million stateside and $163 million globally. Similar to "Barbenheimer" 15 years later, "Cloverfield" and "27 Dresses" catered to two completely different audiences. 

Unlike "Barbenheimer," I doubt many moviegoers were doing a double feature. Most likely, monster movie fans clamored for "Cloverfield," while romantic comedy lovers fell for "27 Dresses." Taken together, the cinematic odd couple earned $63 million (about $94 million adjusted), so "27 Cloverfields" was a big win for the movie biz during the normally slow month of January.

Tom Cruise loves putting his life on the line for our amusement, but two decades ago, he was sitting on the edge against a Hawaiian girl and her pet blue alien. Powered by the promise of Cruise's first pairing with Steven Spielberg, "Minority Report" made $35.7 million over June 21-23, 2002, or about $63.8 million in today's dollars. Not bad for a high-concept, sci-fi film. Landing at No. 2 was Disney's "Lilo & Stitch," which Cruise and Spielberg beat by a razor-thin margin. How thin? "Lilo & Stitch" earned $35.3 million, so "Minority Report" won the weekend by only about $400,000. And you thought political elections were close.

Once an unstoppable box office juggernaut, the Disney Renaissance of the '80s and '90s was in the rear-view mirror by 2002, as moviegoers preferred the 3D, CGI animation of Pixar to the Mouse House's traditional 2D animation style. So "Lilo & Stitch" did pretty well, especially considering Disney's "Treasure Planet" crashed a few months later with $38 million during its entire domestic run. "Lilo & Stitch" also beat the total stateside earnings of "Minority Report" ($145 million to $132 million) but came up short overseas, closing with $273 million worldwide compared to $358 million for "Minority Report." Combined, "Lilo Report" (or "Tom & Stitch," if you prefer) opened with just about $71 million ($127 million adjusted). Cruise edged out Stitch this time, but the blue alien would have his revenge 23 years later.

Movie studios seem to like counter-programming against Christopher Nolan, as he appears on this list three times (four if you include "Barbenheimer"), more than any other filmmaker. By 2017, Nolan had proven his box office bona fides with superhero movies and sci-fi acton flicks, so he decided to come back down to Earth and bring his talents to France. "Dunkirk" specifically. The British-born filmmaker chose to tell the tale of one of Great Britain's greatest acts of valor during World War II, the successful evacuation of more than 330,000 Allied soldiers from the port city of Dunkirk in the north of France. While that doesn't exactly scream "summer blockbuster," Nolan prevailed, as "Dunkirk" escaped with $50.5 million over July 21-23, about $66 million today.

Taking second place for the weekend was a very different kind of trip; a "Girls Trip," you might say. The travel comedy starring Queen Latifah and Regina Hall made $31 million ($41 million adjusted). All told, "Dunkirk Trip" managed a spectacular $82 million opening weekend, or about $107 million in today's dollars. Sure, that's chump change compared to "The Avengers" and "Jurassic World" movies, but incredibly impressive for two original features. "Dunkirk" may have featured sinking ships, but it was a rising tide that lifted all boats at the box office, ending its run with $188 million domestically and $526 million worldwide, while "Girls Trip" could take a real nice vacation with the $115 stateside and $140 million it made.

With $3 billion domestically and $7.7 billion globally in box office grosses (a per-film average of $191 million stateside and $479 million worldwide), it's easy to see why studios like working with Christopher Nolan. Turns out it's big business to compete against him as well. However, it's rare that another movie comes out ahead. "Barbie" soundly beat "Oppenheimer" in 2023, but that was expected (iconic toy versus nuclear physicist isn't exactly a fair fight). But the battle lines weren't so clear in 2014 when Nolan's "Interstellar" took on Disney's "Big Hero 6." Who would take the crown when two of the most bankable brand names in film (Nolan and Disney) battled at the box office? Disney took the "W," but with a slight asterisk.

"Big Hero 6" won the weekend of November 7-9, 2014, with $56 million ($75 million adjusted), compared to the Matthew McConaughey "star" vehicle (get it?) "Interstellar" with $47.5 million ($64.5 million adjusted). That said, "Interstellar" technically opened on a Wednesday, burning off some audience demand. Alas, it only played in 249 theaters for two days. So does Nolan deserve a mulligan on this? You decide. Either way, "Interstellar" got the last laugh, barely beating "Big Hero 6" worldwide with $681 million to $658 million, though the latter definitively defeated the former domestically with $222.5 million to $188 million. "Big Hero Interstellar" took $103.5 million together ($140.5 million adjusted) over the weekend, proving Nolan and Disney should compete against each other more often.

Perhaps the only thing more intense than a post-apocalyptic wasteland is an all-girls a cappella competition. George Miller brought his "Road Warrior" franchise out of storage for "Mad Max: Fury Road." The question was: Would the three-decades-later legacy sequel to a cult series starring a new actor in the title role do well? Conventional wisdom would say "hell no." But powered by glowing reviews, Miller and company defied the odds, as "Mad Max: Fury Road" sped off with $45 million ($62 million adjusted) over the May 15-17, 2015 weekend. Not bad, but it still put the movie firmly in second place behind the surprise huge winner for the weekend, "Pitch Perfect 2" with $69 million ($94 million adjusted). I say "surprise" because "Pitch Perfect" opened to $5 million in 2012, though it legged it out to $65 million domestically; "Pitch Perfect 2" earned more than the first film's entire stateside run in just three days.

So really, both franchise films performed way better than expectations due to rock-solid word of mouth, with "Pitch Perfect: Fury Road" combining to earn $114 million, or $155 million adjusted for inflation. "Pitch Perfect 2" proved to be a bigger hit domestically, singing away with $184 million compared to the $154 million earned by "Mad Max: Fury Road." Worldwide was a different story, as "Mad Max: Fury Road" guzzled up $379 million versus "Pitch Perfect 2" with $287 million. That said, "Pitch Perfect 2" had a budget one-fifth of "Mad Max: Fury Road."

"Barbenheimer" ran so "Glicked" could soar. Okay, not really, as "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" earned $77 million less in 2024 ($167 million) than "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" did in 2023 ($244 million). Still, "Glicked" was the first high-profile example of counter-programming to take place after "Barbenheimer," so naturally, our cultural tastemakers had to give it a cutesy name. Fine, "Glicked" is better than "Wickiator," I'll give them that.

Paramount wanted to make a "Gladiator" sequel ever since the 2000 film earned $452 million worldwide (an astounding $843 million adjusted). Given the titular "Gladiator," y'know, died in the movie, the sequel ideas got pretty silly (four words: "Maximus Goes To Hell"). It'd be nearly a quarter of a century before they landed on a concept, but it worked out well, as "Gladiator II" speared $55 million over November 22-24. Moviegoers happily returned to ancient Rome, but they were really stoked to go to Oz. "Wicked" conjured up $112 million, successfully going from stage to screen, and from the bowels of development hell where it had languished for a decade.

Elphaba and Glinda were too much for Lucius, as "Wicked" made more domestically ($473 million) than "Gladiator II" did worldwide ($462 million), while flying off with $756 million globally. As a consolation prize, "Gladiator II" did make a bit more overseas ($289 million to $282 million), but "Wicked" definitely defied gravity stateside. FWIW, "Gladiator II" topped its dear old dad "Gladiator" at the worldwide box office, but was slaughtered when adjusted for inflation.

"Batman Begins" underwhelmed in 2005 with its $48 million opening weekend, proving the Bat brand was still damaged by "Batman & Robin" eight years earlier. Christopher Nolan's reboot legged it out to $205 million domestically and $356 million worldwide; an impressive turnaround, but not exactly mega-blockbuster numbers. So nobody was really predicting that "The Dark Knight" would be the big winner of summer 2008, as box office prognosticators placed their bets on "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." One movie even felt bold enough to schedule opposite "The Dark Knight" over July 18-20, and that was the female-skewing, ABBA-inspired "Mamma Mia," starring Meryl Streep.

Well, thanks to good vibes from "Batman Begins," one of the greatest teaser trailers of all time, and especially Heath Ledger's legendary performance as The Joker, "The Dark Knight" broke the opening weekend record with $158 million ($236.5 million adjusted), making Batman the only franchise to do so four times ("Batman" with $40 million; "Batman Returns" with $45.7 million; "Batman Forever" with $52 million). Don't cry for "Mamma Mia," though, as its $28 million opening ($41 million adjusted) was stellar for a movie musical. 

"The Dark Knight" ended its run with $533 million domestically ($796 million adjusted), second only to "Titanic" at the time, and just over $1 billion worldwide ($1.5 billion adjusted). Meanwhile, "Mamma Mia" made $144 million domestically ($215 million adjusted) and an ABBA-solutely amazing $610 million worldwide ($911 million adjusted). Together, "Mamma Knight" scored $186 million ($278 million adjusted), selling way more tickets than even "Barbenheimer."

"Barbenheimer" wears the crown for the biggest opening weekend matchup (adjusted for inflation) with $244 million. But sliding in at No. 2 is the most recent matchup on our list — "Stitchpossible" with $210 million over May 23-25, 2025. Tom Cruise barely beat the furry blue alien in 2002 with "Minority Report," but Stitch trounced Tom in the rematch 23 years later. Powered by generational nostalgia and a dearth of family films, the live-action "Lilo & Stitch" remake opened to $146 million. That's four times the original's $35.2 million opening, and nearly twice what it earned, even adjusted for inflation (roughly $62 million). So yes, "Lilo & Stitch" is a much bigger brand now than it was in 2002 (translation: expect sequels). 

Meanwhile, Tom Cruise's swan song as Ethan Hunt in the "Mission: Impossible" series blew up $64 million, less than half what "Stich" made, but still the biggest debut in the eight-film, 30-year-old franchise (unadjusted for inflation). With a mind-boggling $400 million budget, "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" has a long way to go before it even sniffs profitability, but at least Tom Cruise survived making the movie. Just to rub some dirt Cruise's wounds, "Lilo & Stitch" also topped the four-day Memorial Day weekend record set by "Top Gun: Maverick" in 2002 ($183 million versus $161 million), though I'd be shocked if "Stitch" comes within spitting distance of that film's final $1.5 billion global figure. Still, as "Stitchpossible" proved, Stitch and Tom Cruise should compete more often.