Oppenheimer Vs Barbie: Barbenheimer phenomenon rules despite mega-budget films clashing at box office

'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie', the two films by Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig respectively, are slated to compete at the box office this week, but the Barbenheimer phenomena has already captivated the public's attention.

Ahana Chaudhury

Updated: Jul 19, 2023, 12:26 PM IST

With the release of Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' and Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' on Friday, a year of lighthearted online comparisons between the two films comes to a conclusion. Despite their glaring differences—one is a charmingly subversive comedy starring Margot Robbie as the beloved doll, and the other is a sobering, three-hour drama about the development of the atomic bomb starring Cillian Murphy in the title role—these high-profile films have unintentionally come together to create a singular double feature called "Barbenheimer."

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40,000 members of AMC's movie club have already reserved seats to see "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" on the same day, according to the theatre chain. The "Barbenheimer" meme first appeared at the beginning of last year when Warner Bros. revealed that "Barbie" will be released at the same time as "Oppenheimer" by Universal Pictures. Twitter users quickly capitalised on the two films' contrasting themes, creating amusing one-liners about their joyous versus gloomy nature and engaged in a sarcastic competition for the spirit of America.

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According to sources with access to tracking data, Barbie from Warner Bros. might debut to a bumper $70 million to $80 million, if not more (and there's plenty of potential). With its $60 million suggestion, Warners is being more circumspect. Margot Robbie plays the title role in the film, which is based on the renowned Mattel doll toy series, while Ryan Gosling plays Ken. Before being transferred from Sony to Warners, the creation of a Barbie movie dragged on for years. However, the movie has since become a social media and commercial craze (along with merchandise). Additionally, popular female-skewing films like Universal's Mamma Mia! and Warners' 'Sex and the City' can become summer box office smashes. At this point, Barbie is virtually exclusively appealing to females, especially those 35 and younger.

The production company for the R-rated historical drama "Oppenheimer," which examines the development of the atomic bomb, decided not to comment. There will be about 3,600 domestic screens where the Nolan movie will be shown.