How the ‘Barbenheimer’ effect could boost economic growth

The ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon continues to have a positive impact on the movie box office in the country.

As pointed out by the president and CEO of Cine Colombia, Munir Falah, on his Twitter account, the exhibition of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ in movie theaters has exceeded attendance projections in a significative way.

(Read more: ‘Barbie’ sweeps ‘Oppenheimer’ at the box office and Hollywood breathes)

Just in the first four days since its launch, from Thursday July 20 (holiday) to Sunday July 23, the industry received 1,826,509 viewers. This figure consolidated that weekend as the second with the highest performance in the history of Colombia.

In the specific case of the tape of the iconic Mattel doll, this became the second best-attended film in its opening weekend by registering 1,300,109 viewers in the country.

According to Falah, the record is still held by ‘Avengers: Endgame’, with 1,820,487 viewers at its premiere in 2019.

With the interest of the audience skyrocketing and these two films dominating the Colombian box office What economic impact could the ‘Barbenheimer’ have?

(More news: The figures of the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon in the United States)

To enter into context, among the economic items that the Dane measures to obtain the quarterly result of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are artistic and entertainment activities, of which cinema and theater are part.

By the first quarter of 2023, the Colombian economy grew 3.0%a figure that was boosted by the good dynamics of the financial and insurance sector, as well as that of culture and recreation.

Regarding this last point, artistic activities managed to contribute 0.7 percentage points to the annual variation of the dataconsolidating the path of growth that this category has been recording since last year.

(Read more: Entertainment consolidates as the new protagonist in GDP)

Cinema

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Added to this is the fact that the entertainment industry has registered a fairly pronounced acceleration, positioning itself as the second sector that moves the country’s GDP the most, as evidenced by the most recent reports.

Regarding his individual growth, this item reported an annual variation of 18.7% during the first quarter of the current year.

(More news: ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ would mark the business in theaters in the country)

As explained at the time by the director of Dane, Piedad Urdinola, this result is largely explained by the movement that concerts and other cultural activities are generating in Colombia.

However, as regards the most recent releases in cinema and the phenomenon generated by the premiere of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, if audience interest continues, its good performance at the box office could have a positive effect so that the sector maintains its leading role in the growth dynamics of the economy.

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