Who would have guessed that Barbie and J. Robert Oppenheimer would team up to become the duo of the summer, but here we are. Barbenheimer has truly turned into a global phenomenon.
The much anticipated July 21 release dates of Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer have arrived, an event that the internet has dubbed Barbenheimer. Memes have been created, thousands of people are planning double feature screenings of the summer blockbuster movies (we'd recommend Oppenheimer then Barbie, to end on a more positive note), there's even Barbenheimer merchandise.
It's truly a wonderfully strange thing that a movie based on the Mattel doll and a biopic about the father of the atomic bomb have become interlinked like this. While we don't believe that we should really be pitting these two movies against each other, they are always going to be compared to one another — their reviews, their box office results, cultural impact and, maybe down the road, how they fare with awards and end-of-year lists.
With that in mind, we're offering a by-the-numbers look at Barbenheimer, giving you easy access to see how the two movies are faring.
Reviews
Barbie reviews
What to Watch review: 4/5 stars
Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%, "Certified Fresh"
"The film is unapologetic and unafraid in its savvy observations about both women and men," reads What to Watch's Barbie review, making it clear that a movie based on the iconic plastic dolls is much deeper than anyone may have originally expected. And while we admit that not every facet of the movie hits, "its aim is usually true, sharp and frequently funny."
Many other critics are in awe of the balance Gerwig has been able to achieve between the glamour and more complicated real-world ideas, wonderfully described by The Wrap's Tomris Laffly, "a soulful film underneath all the persistent fuchsia."
Oppenheimer reviews
What to Watch review: 4.5/5 stars
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%, "Certified Fresh"
In What to Watch's Oppenheimer review, we call the movie an artistic triumph that seems destined to be considered among, if not the, masterpiece of Christopher Nolan's career, though it probably won't be the first one of his movies you want to watch again.
The general consensus has seen other critics call it "a film of magnitude, profundity and dazzling artistry" (Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post), among "the best films of the decade" (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times) and "the most important motion picture of 2023, and maybe far beyond" (Pete Hammond, Deadline).
Box office
Editor's note: all these projections are for US box office numbers
Barbie box office
We don't yet have official box office numbers for Barbie, but box office tracking site Boxoffice Pro projects the movie could bring in between $140 million to $175 million, giving it a chance to have the biggest opening weekend of a female-directed ever. The current top three in that list are Captain Marvel ($153 million), Frozen II ($130 million) and Wonder Woman ($103 million).
The movie is practically assured to be the biggest box office opening for Gerwig's career. To be fair, Lady Bird was a small indie movie, but which ultimately earned $78.9 million worldwide after a $364,437, while Little Women got off to a solid $16.7 million start to an eventual $218 million worldwide box office total.
We'll report Barbie box office numbers as they come in.
Oppenheimer box office
Oppenheimer isn't expected to reach the heights of Barbie in its opening weekend, per Boxoffice Pro, but with an estimated range of $52 million to $72 million, it could still have one of the five best opening weekends at the US box office for the summer of 2023.
If it falls into that range, Oppenheimer would earn one of the four best openings for a Christopher Nolan movie, beating Dunkirk ($50 million), Batman Begins ($48 million) and Interstellar ($47 million). If it hits on the higher end it could even surpass Inception ($62 million). That would be no small feat considering that Oppenheimer is rated R, when all those movies were PG-13, and is longer than all those movies. Unsurprisingly, The Dark Knight ($158 million) and The Dark Knight Rises ($160 million) openings aren't likely in reach.
We'll report Oppenheimer box office numbers as they come in.
Runtimes
Barbie runtime
One hour, 54 minutes
Oppenheimer runtime
Three hours
