Opening weekend earnings: Oppenheimer loses to Barbie at box office worldwide but Indians prefer it over Margot Robbie's Barbie; controversial Bhagavad Gita scene in Christopher Nolan film sparks outrage

Produced by: Bhoomika
Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh

Source: Film analyst Sumit Kandel 

Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the Atomic Bomb, has performed below expectations in terms of its earnings worldwide. Made on a budget of $100 million, the film has earned $174.2 million worldwide as of Sunday, which is lower than what was expected 

Oppenheimer vs Barbie
at Box Office

Source: Film analyst Sumit Kandel 

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s film Barbie has raked in around $155 million in North America and $182 million from other international markets. The film’s worldwide collection stands at $337 million as of Sunday 

Barbie's Box Office earnings

Bucking this trend is India, where movie goers are preferring to watch Christopher Nolan’s directorial Oppenheimer over Greta Gerwig’s directorial Barbie 

Oppenheimer vs Barbie
in India

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Source: Sacnilk 

Barbie collected Rs 5 crore on its opening day, Rs 6.50 crore on its first Saturday, and around Rs 7 crore on its first Sunday, according to initial estimates. It collected around Rs 18.50 crore in its first weekend 

Barbie Box Office
collection in India

On the other hand, Oppenheimer is estimated to have raked in around Rs 49 crore in India during its first weekend, as per trade portal Sacnilk. It earned Rs 14.5 crore on Friday and Rs 17.25 on Saturday and a similar amount on Sunday 

Oppenheimer's opening
week collection in India

Indians are opting to watch the action-thriller movie based on J. Robert Oppenheimer, who has been credited with making the atomic bomb used by the US to attack two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II

Oppenheimer wins over
Barbie in India

However, a particular scene from Oppenheimer has irked a section of the Indian audience. Florence Pugh who plays Jean Tatlock,  Oppenheimer’s love interest, browses Oppenheimer's bookshelf and pulls down a copy of the Hindu religious text Bhagavad Gita while having sexual intercourse 

Oppenheimer's controversial
sex scene

Oppenheimer takes a look at Bhagavad Gita and recites one of its verses, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu scripture, which is a part of the epic Mahabharata 

Oppenheimer's controversial
Bhagavad Gita scene

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna counselled one of the Pandavas, Arjun about his duties as a warrior while the latter was in a dilemma over fighting against his own brothers, Kauravas. As it is a religious scripture, its depiction during an intimate scene has been deemed offensive by a section of Indians

Bhagavad Gita

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur has asked the Bhagavad Gita scene to be removed from Oppenheimer. As per reports, action might be initiated against those responsible for this

Bhagavad Gita-Oppenheimer
controversy