Dublin's Light House and Galway's Pálás smashed their attendance and box office records
When it was first revealed that 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' were being released on the same day, it was nothing more than a source of amusement to many.
A film based on a doll going head-to-head with one about the man who invented the atomic bomb? You couldn't get two movies that were more different.
Then Barbenheimer (i.e. a double bill of both) became a thing - and it looks like it has paid dividends for the box office of Irish and international cinemas.
Two independent Irish cinemas reported their biggest-ever weekend box office takings on record, with Dublin's Light House Cinema and Galway's Pálás rejoicing in the Barbenheimer hype.
6318 film fans visited the Light House, while Pálás saw 2623 customers cross its threshold - with both obliterating their previous records (4373 and 1524 respectively).
The Light House even had breakfast screening of Barbie on Friday at 8am, while many cinema-goers have attended Greta Gerwig's film in fancy dress - and even Galway actress Nicola Coughlan ('Derry Girls'), who features in 'Barbie', was spotted with her family at the Pálás for a viewing.
With screen averages for Barbie in ROI hitting €26,057 and €14,650 for Oppenheimer, Light House managed to double that, whilst also taking the #1 spot for the top performing site in UK and Ireland for Oppenheimer on 35mm, and landing in the Irish top ten for Barbie.
In this era where streaming is king, that's what you call a good weekend for cinema. Will we see more Barbenheimer-type double bills in the future? Time will tell.