Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy agree 'Barbenheimer' combo-release was Summer 2023's 'great pairing'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Margot Robbie revealed that she refused to budge when 'Oppenheimer' producer Charles Roven asked her to change the release date of her film 'Barbie' to avoid clashing with Christopher Nolan’s biopic.
Roven had also produced Nolan’s 'Dark Knight' trilogy and worked with Robbie on James Gunn’s 'The Suicide Squad'.
Robbie told Cillian Murphy about the phone call on Variety’s 'Actors on Actors' series.
'Better for you to move': 'Barbie' v 'Oppenheimer'
Robbie told Cillian Murphy, “One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects.”
Robbie added, “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.’"
She said, "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!'”
Margot Robbie says 'Barbenheimer' was a 'great pairing', Cillian Murphy agrees
Universal put Nolan’s 'Oppenheimer' on the release calendar for July 21, 2023, first. Warner Bros’ later announced Gerwig’s 'Barbie' would open the same day.
Initially, the 'Barbie' date generated buzz as Warner Bros was opening a film opposite Nolan who was back to studios for the first time in two decades to make 'Oppenheimer' at Universal.
Robbie told Murphy during the 'Actors on Actors' conversation that she always thought 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie' were a “really great pairing,” which is why she didn’t want to delay her film’s release date.
“It’s a perfect double billing…Clearly the world agreed. Thank God,” Robbie further said, adding “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…I think they were also really excited by the filmmakers."
"People were itching for the next Chris Nolan film and itching for the next Greta Gerwig film. To get them at the same time was exciting," she added.
“I think it happened because both movies were good,” Murphy told Robbie about why both movies did well despite the same release date.
Box office success of 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer'
The films’ opening together on the same date ignited the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon over the summer.
It resulted in 'Barbie' becoming Warner Bros highest-grossing release in history with $1.4 billion worldwide and 'Oppenehimer' becoming the highest-grossing biopic of all time with a $950 million worldwide.
Murphy elaborated on the 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon, telling Robbie, "That summer, there was a huge diversity of stuff in the cinema, and I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted."
