Greta Gerwig recently spilled on the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, the double feature of her Barbie film and Oppenheimer.
“Like a film festival”
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Gerwig acknowledged the “Barbenheimer” craze. “Chris Nolan is one of my heroes, a proper auteur,” she confessed. “It was an odd pairing, but it's kind of like a film festival where you watch three movies a day.”
The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon came due to Barbie and Oppenheimer both coming out on July 19. Moviegoers joked about seeing both films as a double feature. When cinephiles go to film festivals, they can have a full slate of movies to watch on a given day. Gerwig is just comparing the double feature to that experience.
For anyone worried that the films would cancel each other out, both films succeeded. Barbie was the hit of the year, grossing $1.4 billion worldwide and shattering box office records along the way. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer has made nearly $950 million worldwide itself. Not too shabby.
During the July 19 opening weekend, Barbie opened with a whopping $162 million domestically while Oppenheimer opened to $82 million. The latter is an R-rated three-hour epic whereas the former was a PG-13 family film.
In Barbie, Margot Robbie plays the titular doll who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after questioning her mortality. Ken (Ryan Gosling), her boyfriend, joins her on her quest. Notably, this was the first live-action film adaptation of the iconic doll franchise.
Other cast members in Greta Gerwig's film include Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Michael Cera.
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