Box office record: ‘Oppenheimer’ beats ‘Sing’ as highest-grossing movie to never be number one

It’s probably a little bit of an odd box office record to boast about, but when Universal’s animated movie “Sing” made $270.3 million in North America and $631 million globally, it did so without ever having been number one at the domestic box office. Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer,” a biopic starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, has just surpassed “Sing’s” domestic box office, so it now holds that all-time record.

Maybe that doesn’t seem so odd, but it’s actually quite hard for a movie to make more than $200 million in North America without ever having a single weekend in first place, even if only its opening weekend. In fact, only eight movies made over $200 million without being number one, and that’s including “Oppenheimer.”

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In 2002, Nia Vardalos‘ breakout indie hit “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” had an astounding run at the box office, eventually grossing $241.4 million. During that entire run, which began well outside the Top 10 in May 2002, it only got to second place at the end of that summer, and it was never able to move into first place despite its longevity. It then remained in the Top 10 for two full months, hitting the $200 million mark just before Thanksgiving. (Ironically, a third movie in Vardaolos’ series is being released in just a few short weeks.)

The other highest-grossing films to never be number one include “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” (2009) at $219 million, “Alvin and the Chipmunks” (2007) at $217 million, “A Star Is Born” (2018) at $215 million, “Sherlock Holmes” (2009) at $209 million and “World War Z” (2013) at $202 million.

“Oppenheimer” added another $2.6 million on Wednesday, which brought its domestic total to $272.6 million. Since it constantly had Greta Gerwig‘s “Barbie” holding it back from taking first place, it’s now the current holder of that strange record to have. Similarly, “Sing” had the behemoth “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” to compete against when it was released in December 2016.

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This is actually the first time since “Interstellar” in 2014 when a movie directed by Nolan didn’t at least open in first place. That movie ended up making $188 million domestically, so it was well behind the record, long before “Sing” came along to take that title.

Since “Oppenheimer” is likely to be bumped from second place this coming weekend, it’s probably going to hold onto this title for some time, because again, it’s somewhat of a rarity that’s becoming more and more common in recent years.

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