No matter what movies underperformed this summer or what films did amazing business, 2023 belongs to the pairing Barbie and Oppenheimer. It seems like the perfect absurdist satire with the marriage of a tongue-in-cheek film adaptation of a famous toy line sporting A-listers along with an ultra-serious, prestigious, award-seeking drama about one of the heaviest events in world history, both opening on the same day. It’s almost like a recurring joke out of a Mel Brooks or Zucker brothers comedy, but alas, in July, the cinema world will release Oppenheimer and Barbie on the same day. Two films that couldn’t be further apart in nature and audience demographic. However, the best part is, they’re both generating the interest of audiences on their own merits as well as exuding pretty positive buzz.
The two films being released simultaneously on the same date has resulted in many online memes and jokes. And it is all seemingly culminating in an epic double feature as Variety reports that the AMC theater chain has already claimed that over 20,000 customers have booked their tickets for same-day viewings of Barbie and Oppenheimer. The sales have been unprecedented and yet, unsurprising, given the popularity of the situation. This event is so unique that although AMC issued a press release about it, there are no significantly comparable data reports to hold it up against.
Elizabeth Frank, executive VP of worldwide programming and chief content officer at AMC Theatres, explained, “That more than 20,000 moviegoers have already made plans and purchased tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day is a great sign that the growing online conversation around seeing both of these incredible films is turning into ticket sales. Just as exciting, with 10 days to go until these movies open, this may only be the beginning. From Friday to today, we saw a 33% increase in the number of guests who decided to create their own double feature by purchasing tickets to see both movies on the same day. We are thrilled to see this momentum.”
And that’s just this theater chain alone. There has been no accounting for the other chains, which include those smaller and local. In addition, this news is also coupled with the huge projection for the box-office estimates of Tom Cruise’s latest action extravaganza, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The summer may have started slow, but perhaps a spike in the middle will revive an ailing year of movie profits. If anything, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig are doing their parts by buy tickets to support each other.
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