Last year saw the epic rise of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, it blessed the internet with endless memes, dress-up opportunities at the cinema, and a double feature so mega that it will be remembered for decades to come.
As well as giving us a pop culture event of the ages, Barbie and Oppenheimer absolutely smashed cinema ticket sales in 2023. London-wise, the Barbican reported a massive boost in their ticket sales thanks to Barbenheimer and the stage production of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, tickets of which you can find here.
Between January and November 2023, the Barbican cinema saw 154,243 tickets bought which is a 32 per cent increase compared to ticket sales in the same time in the previous year after Londoners flooded to the big screen to catch the double bill. This was a UK-wide trend last year, as 2023 was the busiest year for cinema tickets in four years all thanks to cinema’s most unlikely duo, Barbie and Oppenheimer.
The My Neighbour Totoro theatre production, brought to the stage by The Royal Shakespeare Company, is reportedly the current highest-grossing show ever at the Barbican theatre. Between January and November 2023, around 285,627 were sold at the Barbican theatre, in general, the Barbican saw a 16 per cent increase in their overall footfall in 2023 as compared with the previous year and sold 1,105,380 tickets between January and November.
Since opening on November 30 2023, the show has sold a whopping £10.75 million worth of ticket sales and has sky-rocketed in popularity which has made securing a ticket a little tough. The show’s run has luckily been extended and is currently on until March 23 2024 so be sure to catch the hit show before it’s too late. Find tickets here.