As 2023 draws to a close, the Barbenheimer phenomenon still resounds as the year’s most important film event. Two highly anticipated blockbusters, poised in a head-to-head battle in the thick of summer movie season, from two of Hollywood’s premier directors; no wonder the double feature became so highly meme-able. But memes aside, Barbenheimer was a huge success for an industry in crisis, and “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” rank as two of 2023’s best films.
But according to Margot Robbie, certain people didn’t want the two films to open on the same weekend, fearing it may jeopardize either movie’s success. Variety reports that Robbie told Cillian Murphy she got a call from “Oppenheimer” producer Charles Roven about changing the release date for “Barbie” in a conversation for the outlet’s “Actors On Actors” video series. But Robbie refused to listen to Roven’s pleas, insisting that the two movies face off against each other.
“One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects,” Robbie told Murphy in the conversation. “And he was like, ‘I think you guys should move your date.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving our date. If you’re scared to be up against us, then you move your date.’ And he’s like, ‘We’re not moving our date. I just think it’d be better for you to move.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving!’”
It’s not like Robbie and Roven are on bad terms, as the pair worked together on James Gunn‘s “The Suicide Squad” back in 2021. But Roven knows a thing or two about blockbuster success: he produced Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight” trilogy, and wanted to make sure “Oppenheimer” had a chance to do as well as those films in its theatrical run. Obviously, the opening weekend face-off didn’t harm Nolan’s film or Greta Gerwig‘s: the two films rank as the #3 and #1 films at the 2023 box office, receiving effusive praise from critics and audiences alike.
But many anticipated some drama in the lead-up to the two films’ July 21, 2023 openings. Universal slated “Oppenheimer” for that date first, but some eyes popped after Warner Bros. slotted “Barbie” in on the same weekend. Was this a punchy action by Warner Bros. to slight Nolan after he and the studio had a falling out following the pandemic release of “Tenet” in 2020? After all, Nolan had worked exclusively with Warner Bros. for about two decades before jumping ship to Universal for his latest film.
That wasn’t the case, however, and the double bill ended up becoming, as Robbie put it to Murphy, “a really great pairing.” “It’s a perfect double billing…Clearly the world agreed. Thank God,” Robbie continued. “The fact that people were going and being like, ‘Oh, watch “Oppenheimer” first, then “Barbie.”‘ I was like, ‘See? People like everything.’ People are weird…I think they were also really excited by the filmmakers. People were itching for the next Chris Nolan film and itching for the next Greta Gerwig film. To get them at the same time was exciting.” As for a spat between Nolan and Warner Bros., the director insists there’s no hard feelings between him and the studio, and both sides hope to work together again someday.
And “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” opening the same weekend may be the best thing that happened to Hollywood all year. Gerwig’s film became the highest-grossing release for Warner Bros. ever over its theatrical run, taking in $1.4 billion worldwide. Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” made $950 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing World War II-related film ever.
So how did both films thrive even though they were in competition with one another?“I think it happened because both movies were good,” Murphy told Robbie. “In fact, that summer, there was a huge diversity of stuff in the cinema, and I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted.” “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were original projects, too, unlike certain blockbusters this year that didn’t fare as well critically and commercially. Maybe solid, original movies not made to wring out further profits from familiar IPs is what audiences want right now? Take notes, studios, if you want to replicate the success of Barbenheimer in years to come.