For movie fans, there’s only one word to describe the summer of 2023: Barbenheimer.
On July 21, two very different and equally beloved movies, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, were released in North America. Months before that opening date, the internet began celebrating the vast tonal differences of the two films with a series of memes and fan-made images.
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According to NBC, the first-known use of the combined name “Barbenheimer” was made in April 2022 by Next Best Picture Editor in Chief Matt Neglia. The phrase took off in the ensuing months, as did the idea of seeing both movies – a nearly four and a half hour commitment – on opening night. The week of the movies’ release, AMC Theatres announced that over 40,000 people had bought a ticket to both movies.
How Much Money Have ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ Made?
As of early September 2023, the two movies had combined for over $2.2 billion dollars in worldwide box office, with Barbie responsible for nearly $1.4 billion and Oppenheimer – a two and a half-hour R-rated movie with virtually no action scenes – approaching $900 million. Their combined power left even today’s most reliable movie star, Tom Cruise, in their dust, as the seventh installment of his popular Mission Impossible franchise was all but forgotten by the ticket buying audience.
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Some very talented visual artists celebrated this phenomenon with posters combining Barbie star Margot Robbie and Oppenheimer lead Cillian Murphy in very creative ways. Among other things, the duo can be seen recreating the cover art from Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album as well as the poster from 2016’s acclaimed movie musical La La Land.
You can see 10 of the best Barbenheimer posters below.
