Over a single weekend, 28-year-old Toronto resident Daniel Konikoff will experience two life-changing events. On July 23, hes getting married. Two days before, hes going to the movies with his bride-to-be and their entire wedding party for a double feature of Greta Gerwigs very pink romp Barbie and Christopher Nolans extremely dark historical drama Oppenheimer.
It stemmed from a joke, and then we started to actually create a plan, Konikoff says. So, the double bill is a little wedding-adjacent party. As soon as the second movie lets out at 1 a.m. its bed! he adds. And then we drive to the venue. Theres not a lot of sleep, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Konikoff and company are among the merry band of movie lovers who are leaning into the social media frenzy known as Barbenheimer by planning back-to-back screenings of the two seemingly different films with twin release dates. Thats right: The countless memes, fan art and apparel has turned into a real-world phenomenon. Two weeks before opening day on July 21, AMC Theatres reported that 20,000 people have purchased tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day. Now, that number has doubled to 40,000.
This may only be the beginning, says AMC Theatres executive Elizabeth Frank.
At a glance, the audience overlap isnt clear. Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, is a somber character study about the theoretical physicist who led the development of the atomic bomb. Barbie, featuring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is a neon-hued fantasy comedy about Barbie-Land expats who go on a quest for self-discovery in the real world. Visually, Oppenheimer is moody and intense, while Barbie is a physical manifestation of the color pink. Yet the contrast is the very thing thats galvanizing film lovers.
This could have been something dividing the masses, but instead its bringing everyone together, says Nicole Boisseau, a 21-year-old Richmond, Va. student. Her dad, Jay Boisseau, who also has tickets to both films at Alamo Drafthouse on opening weekend, says that jokes aside, the mismatched scheduling works out for viewers. Since they are so different, its not like youre going to spend six hours watching the same thing, he notes.
But his daughter believes the movies have more in common than meets the eye. Theyre both questioning the nature of humanity. (Shes serious. During one hilarious scene in the Barbie trailer, Margot Robbies life-size doll turns to her friends at a dance party to ask: Do you guys ever think about dying?)
One crucial matter, however, is driving people apart and thats the order in which to watch the double feature. Is it better to end with Barbie and leave the marathon movie day on a high? Will the inevitable existential crisis that follows a screening of Oppenheimer hit differently in broad daylight? In constructing the optimal viewing experience, no detail from outfit choices to snacks and beverage options for fuel in between showings (Oppenheimer runs at three hours; Barbie clocks in just under two) is insignificant.
We didnt want to see Oppenheimer too early in the day because we thought it would be jarring, Kadija Osman, a 22-year-old Toronto resident, says. After the 2 p.m. screening of Nolans film lets out, she and her friend are decompressing with mocktails and Diet Coke. Then its back to the theater for a Barbie-sized palate cleanser. She adds, We may get dessert after because, visually, Barbie is dessert.
Cinemas have been joining in the excitement, offering pink beer and setting up Barbie-themed photo ops in the lobby. Theres less fun to be had with Oppenheimer, which may be best accompanied with cigarettes and black coffee or a martini to cope with the bleak subject matter (that healthy trifecta was said to comprise J. Robert Oppenheimers diet while he labored on the bomb at Los Alamos). But at the Texas-based Flix Brewhouse chain, theres an economical incentive to embracing Barbenheimer. Brave patrons who watch both films on opening weekend will receive a free movie ticket to redeem at a later date.
Weve been planning for months, says chief revenue officer Chris Randleman. We have enough screens to accommodate everyone.
A box office showdown between heavyweights like Barbie and Oppenheimer isnt unprecedented in the middle of summer blockbuster season. But theories abound about why the battle of the bomb versus the bombshell has turned into the film event of the year.
Some cinephiles believe its because the two filmmakers inspire a particular kind of loyalty in their fans. Nolan, who has delivered commercial winners like The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar, and Gerwig, the indie favorite behind Lady Bird and Little Women, are the rare directors who can draw audiences on their name alone.
It comes down to the filmmakers, who are widely respected. They complement each other in a weird way, says Meredith Loftus,30, of Los Angeles. She compared the scheduling to an unusual double-header in 2008 of Nolans superhero epic The Dark Knight and the kitschy musical Mamma Mia!, which opened on the same day.
I was in high school then, so I didnt have money in my bank account to see them. I missed out on the phenomenon, she says. So when these tickets came out, I thought, I have to take advantage of it. Its a rare cinematic moment.
Others point to the humor in the stark juxtaposition of the tone, style and, well, everything else about the two films.
It just seems funny because theyre such different movies, Karol Nowak, a 25-year-old Queens native, says. He and his comrades are trekking to AMCs Lincoln Square to catch Oppenheimer in 70-mm Imax the way Nolan prefers all of his films to be seen before traveling to the chains Times Square location for Barbie, with a pit stop at Dallas BBQ for its signature Texas-sized cocktails. A shot and chaser, if you will.
This wouldnt be the case if it were Oppenheimer and Mission: Impossible,' he says. Theyre benefiting from the strangeness. Im not sure if that was planned by the studios.
(It wasnt well, not entirely. The irony here is that Universal is releasing Oppenheimer, marking the first time in Nolans career that hes not working with Warner Bros., the studio thats backing Barbie. The director severed decadeslong ties with Warner Bros. after the botched release of 2020s mind-bender Tenet, as well as the studios ill-fated decision to put its entire 2021 movie slate simultaneously on HBO Max. After Nolan took Oppenheimer across the street to Universal, the team at Warner Bros. just so happened to plant its most-hyped blockbuster on the same weekend. The result? A bold test of counterprogramming.)
Barbenheimer has even gone global. Noelia Nigro, 28, initially feared the movies wouldnt debut simultaneously in Buenos Aires, where she lives. (Hollywood films dont always have the same international and domestic release dates.) She and her moviegoing squad let out a cheer when Barbie and Oppenheimer, did, indeed, land on schedule in Argentina.
The rarity of the double feature, Nigro says, is enough to offset the cost of buying tickets and enough concession stand snacks to last through two movies.
Its a once-in-a-lifetime experience, she says. We couldnt possibly choose between them.