Readers: What are your Barbenheimer plans?
Tell us if you’ll be seated for a ‘Barbie,’ ‘Oppenheimer’ double feature and which movie you’ll watch first.
A movie crossover of epic proportions featuring Greta Gerwig’s hot pink, star-studded “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s three-hour atomic biography “Oppenheimer” is coming to theaters near you.
On July 21, two of the year’s most anticipated films will hit theaters, and moviegoers are already going ga-ga for the irony offered by the same-day release of the polar opposite films.
Fans have dubbed the unofficial double feature “Barbenheimer,” with over 20,000 moviegoers having already purchased tickets to watch the two films back to back in one day, Variety reports. Many fans are also engaged in a fierce debate over what order to watch the films.
One moviegoer wrote over Twitter that “people seeing Barbie first are wild” and instead suggested a black coffee and cigarette before seeing Oppenheimer at 11 a.m., followed by mimosas and brunch before seeing Barbie at 6 p.m., and rounding off the night with dinner, drinks, and a club.
people seeing barbie first are wild. the schedule needs to be
— trish (@ULTRAGLOSS) June 26, 2023
black coffee and a cigarette
oppenheimer around 11 (its 3 hours)
mimosas and brunch
barbie around 6/7
dinner, drinks, club https://t.co/oRxWJmE2xm
The Barbenheimer phenomenon has even extended to celebrities, with Tom Cruise saying he will participate in the double feature trend — although he didn’t say which film he’s watching first.
“I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than one with Oppenheimer and Barbie,” he wrote on Twitter.
The excitement behind the two films comes as moviegoers make a slow return back to theaters since the pandemic. CNBC reports that the domestic box office has steadily recovered since it shuttered in late 2020, with the box office reaching $7.5 billion last year, up 64% from the $4.58 billion in ticket sales in 2021. But sales still lagged around 34% from 2019.
Oppenheimer’s director Christopher Nolan, for one, is glad that bomb and bombshell are going head to head this summer.
“Summer, in a healthy marketplace, is always crowded, and we’ve been doing this a long time,” Nolan told IGN. “I think for those of us who care about movies, we’ve been really waiting to have a crowded marketplace again, and now it’s here and that’s terrific.”
Bostonians can partake in the Barbenheimer phenomenon at several events, bars, and restaurants around the city. And as the release approaches, we want to know if you’re partaking in the Barbenheimer double feature and which movie you’ll watch first.
Fill out the survey below or e-mail us at [email protected], and we may feature your response in a future Boston.com article or on our social media channels.
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