The event of the summer was in danger of not happening. A producer on Oppenheimer told Margot Robbie to move Barbie‘s release date.
In the wake of Barbenheimer, Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie teamed up for Variety’s Actors on Actors, a series that puts two stars together and has them discuss their careers. This pairing sort of created itself, with some help from the Internet, of course, but it was threatened by a member of Oppenheimer‘s production.
“One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects,” Robbie told Murphy. “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!’ I think this is a really great pairing, actually. It’s a perfect double billing, Oppenheimer and Barbie.”
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Murphy was quick to point out that Robbie’s decision was ultimately a great one. That led Robbie to discuss the Barbenheimer craze and how moviegoers appreciated having two very different films come out on the same day. “Clearly the world agreed,” she said. “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.”
People being weird is nothing new, but Barbenheimer may have been a once-in-a-lifetime moment. The only way to know for sure is to have Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig once again release films on the same day.
If you’re interested in more Barbenheimer-related content, here’s an article about all the actors in Barbie.
