As thousands of moviegoers gear up for double features of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer,” one person taking joy in the “Barbenheimer” craze is Nolan himself. Although his movie will be battling “Barbie” at the box office, Nolan recently told IGN that “it’s terrific” to have both summer tentpoles open on the same day.
“Summer, in a healthy marketplace, is always crowded, and we’ve been doing this a long time,” Nolan said. “I think for those of us who care about movies, we’ve been really waiting to have a crowded marketplace again, and now it’s here and that’s terrific.”
Cillian Murphy, who stars in the title role of “Oppenehimer,” agreed with Nolan, telling IGN: “I think it’s great. I mean, I’ll be going to see ‘Barbie.’ I can’t wait to see it. I think it’s just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out the same day. Could spend a whole day in the cinema, what’s better than that?”
“I love the fact that people are talking about going to two movies in a weekend,” added “Oppenheimer” co-star Matt Damon. “Ben [Affleck] and I used to go to two movies every weekend, and I think people should do that.”
A third “Oppenheimer” cast member, Emily Blunt, called it “awesome” for the two movies to be opening at once as “the interest in the variety of what’s available is so awesome.”
While “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were originally pitted as rivals (most likely because Nolan left “Barbie” studio Warner Bros. after over a decade to make “Oppenheimer” at Universal), the two movies have started to uplift one another in recent weeks. AMC Theatresreported on July 10 that over 20,000 members of its AMC Stubs program have purchased tickets to see both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on the same day.
“That more than 20,000 moviegoers have already made plans and purchased tickets to see ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ on the same day is a great sign that the growing online conversation around seeing both of these incredible films is turning into ticket sales,” said Elizabeth Frank, executive VP of worldwide programming and chief content officer at AMC Theatres.
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” open in theaters July 21 from Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, respectively.
