HIT movies Barbie and Oppenheimer have given British cinemas their best week since 2012.
Odeon, the UK’s largest chain, said it sold two million tickets for the films in just ten days.
Vue UK and Ireland said the films smashed its previous highest admissions week — for James Bond film Skyfall 11 years ago — by 20 per cent.
The movies have been dubbed Barbenheimer because the contrasting blockbusters opened on the same day.
Odeon said Barbie would take over from Super Mario Bros to become the chain’s biggest film of the year so far.
Ticket sales have surpassed record-breaking releases in the past decade including Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Across Europe, the films have beaten Vue International’s previous overall weekly admissions record by 40 per cent.
Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, is a quirky take on girl power.
Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy, tells of the atomic bomb’s creation in World War II.
Vue boss Claire Arksey said upcoming blockbusters could mean there are more record ticket sales this summer.
Most read in Money
She hopes film fans will flock to new releases such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Meg 2: The Trench, Napoleon and The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.