Oppenheimer Star Explains Why the Barbenheimer Phenomenon Needs to Happen Again
Emily Blunt thinks it would be good for the film industry to figure out a way to recreate "Barbenheimer."
When the internet took Barbie and Oppenheimer's shared release date and turned it into a kind of ironic holiday, exhibitors reaped the benefits at the box office, with Barbie becoming Warner Bros.' highest-grossing film of all time, and Oppenheimer earning the distinction of being the highest-grossing movie never to hit the #1 spot at the box office. Yes, both of these movies were basically guaranteed successes given the enthusiasm around their release, but pairing the two gave it a kind of chaotic, celebratory energy that audiences really embraced, and likely led to far more "double features" than otherwise might have happened.
You can count Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt among the fans of the phenomenon. In a recent interview, Blunt said she believes there needs to be some way of recreating that excitement, for the sake of both the audience and the exhibitors.
"We have to make it happen again. We have to because look what it did for cinema. Look what it did for people," Blunt told The Playlist. "It was joyous and such a celebration of the diverse range of movies out there. And why do they have to be pitted against each other? Just go see both. I want it to happen more and more and more. It's fantastic."
With big money at play, it's basically guaranteed studios and exhibitors will try to recreate the idea. Whether it's by taking movies that are already set to release together, or by strategically shifting some dates around, it would be shocking if we didn't see exhibitors trying to do it as quickly as possible. Fans have even started making plans to try and artificially generate something like SAW Patrol (Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie), but nothing has happened quite yet.
Legendary B-movie producer Charles Band even announced Barbenheimer recently, a movie from Puppet Master production company Full Moon which centers on the premise of dolls building an atomic bomb.
"It's so silly," Band said recently. "But it seems like every other feature is dark and depression, it's like, god, we need a little humor going into 2024."
No word yet on when the official release will happen.