This summer, one of the most surprising film showdowns to date took place. We saw a groundbreaking work of art about life and the human condition, a race against time to save a nation and prevent a societal breakdown, with one of the most intelligent and historically iconic line-ups to date. Oppenheimer also came out.
If you have been on any social media, it has been impossible to escape the impact of ‘Barbenheimer’, the kitschy nickname for the films Barbie and Oppenheimer. Both were released on July 21, 2023, so the works have been intrinsically tied together. From debates about which order to watch it in as a double feature to pink and glittery shirts declaring “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” it is nearly impossible to mention one without conjuring images of the other. Still, if we want to fully appreciate these movies, we must understand how this combination came to be.
After decades of animated movies, Barbie as a live-action film has been a long time coming. Though the idea of some form of live-action Barbie movie has been talked about by executives since the 1980s, this film was first announced back in the fall of 2009, with many different writers and directors attached to the project. Even Barbie herself changed a variety of times, with women like Amy Schumer, Anne Hathaway and Gal Gadot being cast to portray the icon blonde before director Greta Gerwig brought in Margot Robbie. On top of all the famous Barbies we meet, we also see stunning performances from America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling, and Michal Cera. The movie is an absolute powerhouse, which explains why it has become the highest-grossing film of 2023 and the first billion-dollar movie directed solely by a woman.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was first announced in the fall of 2021 after Universal Pictures won a bidding war for the screenplay. After this, production happened quite quickly, especially when taking into account the employment of practical effects and the first-ever usage of IMAX black-and-white film photography. This biographical thriller featured a stunning performance from Cillian Murphy as the titular father of the atomic bomb, with Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon providing unforgettable work as well. Though Oppenheimer did not outperform Barbie, it still grossed nearly one billion worldwide and is the highest-grossing biographical film.
What started as a competition between two vastly different films to outcompete one another grew into a celebration of summer blockbusters and seeing our favorite actors’ million-dollar performances turned into TikTok edits. Through the actions of fans and the power of social media, Barbie and Oppenheimer will always have their histories tied together as one of the strangest and most exciting film combinations.
Photo: Belkaa