‘Barbenheimer’: Fans Plan to See ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ Back to Back on July 21
It’s all about Barbie. He’s just… Robert Oppenheimer.
That is correct. Now, Barbie doll and attention-grabbing protagonist aren’t Ken, her plastic lover. He is the man who designed the atomic bomb.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of two movies this summer: Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, produced by Warner Bros., and Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, produced by Universal Pictures. It will be released on July 21st. They have teased the film’s striking contrasts in themes, moods, and color schemes.
The release schedule resulted in Barbenheimer, a mashup many had never seen before. Or maybe Boppenheimer.
“Oppenheimer” is Nolan’s masterpiece film based on “American Prometheus”, a biography of Oppenheimer, the scientist who led the Manhattan Project that built the first atomic bomb during World War II. The trailer for the film features intense music and a suspenseful scene featuring a pensive-looking Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, depicting Margot Robbie’s departure as a doll living in Barbieland. It’s a stark contrast to the pink, sparkly trailer for Barbie. On an adventure into the real world.
These two characters couldn’t be more different (is there even a middle ground in this Venn diagram?). Yet Robbie and Murphy appear together in t-shirts and sweaters.
Memes, videos, and online chatter abound on social media, with some people planning to see two movies on the same day. The debate over which order to watch, whether to watch “Barbie” first to start the day on a lighter note or “Oppenheimer” first to end the day on a more cheerful note, is still being settled. not present.
This bizarre crossover has also produced a real-life product. A Google search for “Barbenheimer t-shirt” returns tens of thousands of results. Sellers on Etsy I designed my own version. Some feature Robbie and Murphy, while others combine Barbie’s pink font with a pink drawing of an atomic cloud.
One such t-shirt, an early entry into the crowded field, is a split screen that simply combines two movie logos, spelling out “Barbenheimer” and the movie’s release date.
San Antonio filmmaker Hunter Hudson, 23, said he originally designed and created the shirt for himself and friends to attend the “Babenheimer Double” on July 21st. But when he posted a photo of the shirt on his Twitter feed, it went beyond his expectations, he said.
“What I post usually gets about three or four likes,” Hudson said. But after sharing a few mock-ups of shirts, I woke up one morning to hundreds of messages from people asking if I could buy it.
Hudson works with a friend to make his own shirt for $40. He said he has made about 150 shirts so far and is preparing a second batch of about 70 more. It takes him about 45 minutes to an hour to make one T-his shirt, going through the process of cutting his two shirts in half, pinning them together, and pressing them.
“Several cinemas have contacted me personally to ask for bulk orders for their employees,” he said. “It was an overwhelmingly positive result.”
This kind of organic marketing is probably good for both films, said Robert Mitchell, director of theater insights at Gower Street, a firm that does predictive analytics for the film industry.
The studio’s marketing is not lacking.The theater has a life-size Barbie cardboard box for people to take pictures with. and a selfie generator.Collaborating with multiple brands: offered by frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry barbie flavorthe gap is Barbie-themed clothing lineand Airbnb is offering a real Barbie Dreamhouse in Malibu. Warner Bros. declined to comment on the film’s marketing efforts.
It’s unclear what the hype means for either film’s box office performance, and awareness doesn’t necessarily translate to attendance, Mitchell said. he is a film consultant Newsletter About the box office. He said conservative industry estimates put Barbie at $55 million to $65 million in the U.S. and Canada, and Oppenheimer at $40 million to $50 million. Both of these estimates would be strong for a non-sequel fantasy comedy and historical drama. Gross said superhero, blockbuster action, and blockbuster animated movies typically have high openings.
Still, it’s possible the movie’s hype will help the numbers. “Every time Barbie is released, trailer‘Oppenheimer’ will start trending,” Mitchell said.
“They are so vastly different that they allow stories to emerge organically. This is probably the strangest double-billing ever,” he said. The online conversation is “almost a gift for distributors,” he says.
Social media is flooded with people flaunting tickets to see the double feature, but it’s unclear how many people will actually go. “But that shouldn’t be a problem,” says Gross. “Audiences will find them, and both films will do very well.”
