A film chain reports that more than 200,000 advance tickets have been purchased for Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Odeon has said one million customers are expected at its cinemas in the week following the release of the two hotly anticipated films today (Friday).

Some cinemagoers have been purchasing back-to-back tickets for what has been dubbed, Barbenheimer.

Oxford actor Florence Pugh has received rave reviews for her role as Jean Tatlock, Oppenheimer’s true love, in Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller about the physicist and his role in developing the first atomic bomb. 

Co-star Cillian Murphy described her performance as "just amazing."

He said: "I have loved Florence's work since Lady Macbeth and I think she's f**king phenomenal.

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"She has this presence as a person and on screen that is staggering. The impact she has [in Oppenheimer] for the size of the role, it's quite devastating."

Odeon said both productions are its biggest films of the year so far for advance sales.

Suzie Welch, Odeon’s interim managing director of UK and Ireland, said: “As we prepare for the biggest weekend of the year, whether you are dressed in roller blades and head-to-toe pink, preparing for a three-hour epic, or combining the two, we know that our guests are going to be both blown away and dazzled by the experience at Odeon.”

This follows Tom Cruise leading the third biggest weekend so far this year for Odeon, with Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One.