For all the kismet surrounding the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, even the producers weren’t quite sure having both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on the same date was a good idea.
Margot Robbie, who as a producer on “Barbie” also got a juicy payday, revealed in a conversation with “Oppenheimer” star Cillian Murphy that a producer on Christopher Nolan’s film actually called her asking them to move “Barbie” off of the “Oppenheimer” release date. She didn’t budge.
“He was like, ‘I think you guys should move your date.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving our date. If you’re scared to be up against us, then you move your date.’ And he’s like, ‘We’re not moving our date. I just think it’d be better for you to move.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving,’” she said on Variety’s Actors on Actors video series.
According to Variety, the producer in question is Charles Roven, though he and Robbie previously worked together on “The Suicide Squad,” so they’re friendly at least.
While Robbie couldn’t have predicted the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, she did say she thought the two could make a “great pairing” on their July 21 dates. She even added that while she was “90 percent” certain “Barbie” was going to be a big deal, a part of her still feared it could “go so badly wrong.”
“Clearly the world agreed. Thank God,” Robbie said. “The fact that people were going and being like, ‘Oh, watch ‘Oppenheimer’ first, then ‘Barbie.‘ I was like, ‘See? People like everything.’ People are weird.”
“And they don’t like being told what to do. They will decide, and they will generate the interest themselves,” Murphy responded to Robbie.
“Barbie” ultimately outdid “Oppenheimer” at the box office, bringing in $1.44 billion to “Oppenheimer’s” still massive $950 million globally. Though that’s expected for a toy franchise movie compared to a three-hour biopic about a scientist. Both movies figure to be contenders in the Oscar race, and “Barbie” just announced it will debut on Max on December 15.
Read Robbie and Murphy’s full conversation here. And check out IndieWire’s Deep Dive series involving the making of everything surrounding Greta Gerwig’s film here.
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