July 2023 – the summer of Barbenheimer. A blockbuster movie event that has already had a profound impact on the movie industry. But how did these two movies send tidal waves throughout Hollywood? What does this mean about the future of movies? And how did these two become so popular to begin with? All this and more, as we examine the Barbenheimer phenomenon and try to understand, what was that?
It all started with two trailers. Both Barbie and Oppenheimer released their teasers to much expected hype. It made sense considering that Christopher Nolan was starting to become a household name and being labeled as one of the greatest directors in modern cinema, and Barbie is a huge brand that had an outstanding amount of fans as well as critics. So nothing out of the ordinary so far, until the release dates were revealed – July 21st. Suddenly, these two seemingly different films just became a lot closer.
Films have been released on the same day before, but none have been to the same fanfare that met Barbie and Oppenheimer. The idea of two completely opposite films being released together is quite the crazy notion which is made even crazier in the case of these two films. – Barbie, a movie complete with dancing, eccentric costumes, and enough pink dye to cause a temporary shortage, compared to a 3 hour biopic about the man who built the nuclear bomb. The tones, subject matter, theme, virtually everything about these two are so drastically different, and yet, that’s the whole charm of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon. The internet saw these two polar opposites and ran with it, using memes and word of mouth to spread the word of the double feature. The effect it had was massive. Both movies were met with critical acclaim and each earned a spot in the top three highest grossing movies of the year, but they also had much greater effects on the entertainment industry itself.
Recently, theaters have been dominated by big blockbuster franchise films and unneeded remakes and sequels to older films such as the recent films Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, and the live action Little Mermaid. Not all these films have been bad, but it is no secret that nobody wants to pay for the same stories anymore. People also are fed up with the unneeded constant stream of comic book movies, the MCU and DCU have been consistently flopping as of late further proving the audience has had enough. Then came Barbenheimer, the movie event that may have very well changed Hollywood as we know it. This movie event, and its success, just proved what we already know; the people want original stories.
Barbenheimer serves as a wake up call to Hollywood. People aren’t interested in seeing movies that lack passion or creativity in them. Barbie exceeded all expectations and proved to be a serious film that explores themes of feminism, power dynamic, gender roles, and existentialism with positive messages for both women and men. Oppenheimer wasn’t just another high budget thriller, but a movie that prefers to show its conflict through creative imagery and dialogue. These movies surely would have done fine without each other’s influence, but combined they created an event that drew international attention . Without Oppenheimer, Barbie wouldn’t have been taken nearly as seriously, and without Barbie, Oppenheimer would have never made the amount it has now.
What is the future of Hollywood? These movies sent a pretty good message to the executives in the entertainment industry; rather than spending the money on reboots, sequels, and CGI superhero films, spend money on independent projects and original stories. Never have people been more excited about cinematic films, like the upcoming Killers of a Flower Moon, or Napoleon. Barbie and Oppenheimer owe a lot of their success to their marketing, from countdown timers on billboards to Ryan Gosling constantly being in the Ken character, but people walked out with a whole new mindset. This event has the potential to be a turning point for cinema, an event that couldn’t be redone even if you tried. The Summer of Barbenheimer was a flash of lighting that burned down the tree that was blockbusters.
