Margot Robbie tells Cillian Murphy she refused to move 'Barbie' release date for 'Oppenheimer', Internet calls her 'boss'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In a conversation with Cillian Murphy for Variety's 'Actors on Actors', Margot Robbie revealed that an 'Oppenheimer' producer had attempted to persuade her to reschedule the premiere of 'Barbie'.

The two, who portrayed their respective movie's title characters, discussed sharing the screen space this summer in the viral "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, as a part of Variety's 'Actors on Actors' series, published on Tuesday, December 5.

Dubbed "Barbenheimer," the two films' simultaneous release generated months of anticipation as viewers tried to predict which would do better at the box office.

'We’re not moving': Margot Robbie refused to reschedule 'Barbie'

During the conversation, as part of Variety's series 'Actors on Actors', Robbie disclosed to Murphy that she received a call from 'Oppenheimer' producer Charles Roven, asking her to reschedule the release of 'Barbie' so that it wouldn't coincide with Christopher Nolan's atomic bomb epic.

Speaking with 'Oppenheimer' star, Robbie said: "One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects. And he was like, ‘I think you guys should move your date.’ "

Refusing to comply, Robbie told Roven that if 'Oppenheimer' was "scared to be up against" the highly-anticipated 'Barbie', he should reschedule the release date for 'Oppenheimer' instead.

"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!'" Robbie added.

Robbie remarked to Murphy during the 'Actors on Actors' discussion that she didn't want to postpone the premiere of her movie since she always believed 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie' made a "really great pairing."

Universal scheduled the premiere of Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' on July 21, 2023. Later, Warner Bros. announced that Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' would debut on the same day, per Variety.

Cillian Murphy praises both 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer'

The 'Inception' actor stated that the audience eventually decided whether or not both movies were successful. Murphy stated, "They don't like being told what to do. They will decide, and they will generate the interest themselves."

The "Barbenheimer" phenomenon made 'Barbie' the highest-grossing Warner Bros. release ever with a global total of $1.4 billion and 'Oppenehimer' the highest-grossing biopic of all time with a total of $950 million.

Murphy told Robbie that he believed the reason for the reaction was that both films were excellent.

"In fact, 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," Murphy added.

Internet hails Margot Robbie for caving to pressure

Social media users were quick to flock to online platforms to praise the 'Barbie' star for not giving in to moving the release date of the Gerwig film.

One such user wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "And they were right not to move it.. Barbie blew oppenheimer out the park"

A second one hailed Robbie and said, "She's the Boss!"

"Good. There's no reason they couldn't open on the same weekend. It was awesome to see them both in the same week," chimed in a third one.

Another one added, "That producer and Nolan now need to thank Margot and all involved with Barbie for helping carry Oppenheimer."

"Barbie vs Oppenheimer clash benefitted both at the box-office," noted one more.

Another 'Barbie' fan echoed a similar sentiment and wrote: "Sounds like Margot isn't playing games with the release date! She's not budging on Barbie's big day."

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