“‘If You’re Scared…Then You Move Your Date”
Back on July 21 the Barbenheimer phenomenon began as Barbie and Oppenheimer released on the same day. While some, myself included, thought this was a marketing strategy, in Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’ special, Margot Robbie revealed this was not the case. In fact, Oppenheimer’s producer wanted Barbie to change the release date!
As part of Variety’s series ‘Actors on Actors,’ Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy sat down to discuss Barbie and Oppenheimer. During this conversation, Robbie revealed that “Oppenheimer” producer, Charles Roven called her up to ask her to move the Barbie’s release date so it wouldn’t open the same day as Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb film!
“Christopher Nolan was always determined that it would be released in the summer as a big tentpole movie,” Murphy explained. “And he has this superstition around that date, the 21st.” Robbie replied that “It’s a good date. We picked that day too!”, before launching into her big reveal.
“One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me because we worked together on some other projects,” Robbie elaborated. “And 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!””
In true Barbie style, Robbie had a very positive outlook on it, telling Murphy she told Roven, “I think this is a really great pairing, actually. It’s a perfect double billing, “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.”
Murphy agreed, telling Robbie that, “That was a good instinct.” To which Robbie rather gleefully responded,
“Clearly the world agreed. Thank God. 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 this wasn’t the only part audiences played in the Barbenheimer craze. In fact, Robbie remarks,
“People kept asking me, “So is each marketing department talking to each other?” And I was like, “No, this is the world doing this! This is not a part of the marketing campaign.”
According to Murphy, “It happened because both movies were good… I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted.”
Both actors agreed that a mass cultural phenomenon can’t just be arranged. Robbie noted,
“You can’t force that or orchestrate that.”, to which Murphy, almost wistfully, added, “No, and it may never happen again”.
Both films had massive success, in no small part due to the Barbenheimer effect. “Barbie” became Warner Bros.’s highest-grossing release in history with $1.4 billion worldwide, while “Oppenheimer” became the highest-grossing biopic of all time with $950 million worldwide.
I, for one, am delighted to have experienced Barbenheimer and will look forward to the next time something like this happens. I may be waiting for some time.
Watch the full interview here:
