July 21st was one of the biggest days of summer 2023 thanks to the internet phenomenon coined “Barbenheimer.” This term comes from two blockbuster hits: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Barbie follows Barbie, your typical doll, as she leaves Barbieland and realizes life isn’t as perfect as she thought. On the other side, Oppenheimer tells the dark story of the creation of the atomic bomb. With two iconic directors, and such a drastic difference in plot, this combination quickly became an internet sensation.
Gerwig is known for many iconic movies, such as Little Women (2019) and Lady Bird (2017), but Barbie is quite clearly her biggest hit. It is now the highest-grossing film by a female director domestically. Additionally, it is the highest-grossing Warner Brothers movie in box office history. Barbie is 114 minutes of pink and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Margot Robbie plays Barbie, Ryan Gosling is Ken, and numerous other big names also appear, Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, and Ariana Greenblatt, just to name a few. As of right now, Barbie has reached $1.3 billion in the global box office. Obviously, Barbie was a massive hit.
The other part of Barbenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s 3-hour-long Oppenheimer. Currently, this movie is the highest-grossing rated R movie of the year and the fifth highest-grossing Imax movie ever. So far, it has made $700 million globally, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year. Oppenheimer’s cast is also full of big names such as Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Matt Damon, and Jack Quaid. It is an intense movie that uncovers deep parts of history.
It is obvious both movies are extraordinary and globally admired. The idea of Barbenheimer was not to pit the movies against each other but to support and boost each other. Social media jokes and people’s excitement to be back in theaters helped promote both movies. People began spending up to five hours at theaters to see both movies back to back. It was almost impossible to not know about Barbenheimer by the time July 21st came around. And now, it will go down in history as one of the most impactful blockbuster events ever.
