Oppenheimer vs Barbie: Matt Damon Doesn't Get the Rivalry
Summer movie season always draws out some tribalism in some movie fans. Marvel vs DC is the usual line in the sand for many, but July 2023 has delivered the most unique battle possible. Friday, July 21 will see the release of Christopher Nolan's upcoming thriller Oppenheimer and the Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie starring Margot Robbie. A pseudo-rivalry has formed online between the two movies with memes and jokes abounding about which movie people will go see first and which one will end up winning the weekend. One person that isn't ready to pick a side, and who is unaware of the feud, is one of the stars of Oppenheimer, Matt Damon.
Speaking with Vanity Fair about the upcoming film, Damon was asked about the battle of the blockbusters on social media, and he plead ignorance. "This is the first I'm hearing about it, actually. I haven't paid any attention to that," Damon said. "People are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend. Oppenheimer is one of them!" When asked what his family might choose, considering he has four daughters, Damon added, "I'll have to ask them that. If that's the case, they'll see two movies that weekend!"
Though many fans have picked their side, someone that isn't worried about this pretend battle are the studios that made the movies. In a previous talk with Business Insider, Universal Pictures boss Donna Langley was asked if they'd considered moving Christopher Nolan's new movie because of its pottential competition with Barbie, replying in four words: "We like our current date." Deep cut movie fans will also recall that Nolan really likes that date, as it's been where almost all of his movies have been released after the success of The Dark Knight in 2008.
What is Oppenheimer about?
The film follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during the time of the Manhattan. Project, the government directive that built the United States its first nuclear weapon. Cillian Murphy steps into the role of Oppenheimer, something the actor's been after since he and Nolan first worked together on Batman Begins.
Joining Murphy are Emily Blunt as Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer, David Krumholtz as Isidor Isaac Rabi, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddermeyer, Matthias Schweighöfer as Werner Heisenberg, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs, Guy Burnet as George Eltenton, Danny Deferrari as Enrico Fermi, Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer, Gustaf Skarsgård as Hans Bethe, Trond Fausa Aurvåg as George Kistiakowsky, and Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman.