A day after “Barbie” passed its billion-dollar box office milestone, the viral “Barbenheimer” phenomenon blew past its half-billion-dollar mark.

The film has made $552.9 million worldwide since it was released three weeks ago, according to Universal Pictures’ official estimates.

As a result, it is now the highest grossing R-rated film of 2023, and marks the fastest Universal R-rated film to reach $200 million domestically, the studio said in a news release. According to Universal, it is also the highest grossing movie set during World War II.

“Oppenheimer” has shown remarkable stamina as the No. 3 movie in the domestic and international box office for the third consecutive weekend.

It has been an astounding theatrical run for Nolan’s blockbuster, made all the more impressive by its R-rating, running time and subject matter. Unless a spectacular marketing and release strategy had been employed, this film would have likely been a mere footnote when discussing the box office performance of historical dramas, said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Considering the length of the film, the box office numbers are impressive for a biography of the Manhattan Project physicist Robert Oppenheimer. In addition to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Passion of the Christ,” and “American Sniper,” this is one of only four biopics to earn more than half a billion dollars worldwide.

The movie “Oppenheimer” is now one of the most talked about and successful summer movies ever released by a major studio, said Dergarabedian, adding the movie “displays the power of great filmmaking and a bit of ‘Barbenheimer’ magic.”

There was a symbiotic relationship between “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” before their shared July 21 debut, perhaps helped by their very different styles and sounds.