Margot Robbie’s razor-sharp retort to the request from the Oppenheimer producer
The star and producer of the 'Barbie' movie were requested to modify the film's release date to prevent it from coinciding with the premiere of 'Oppenheimer'.
Margot Robbie recounted an incident where she stood firm against an Oppenheimer producer’s suggestion to alter Barbie’s cinematic release date to avoid conflicting with Christopher Nolan’s war drama.
The 33-year-old lead in Barbie, also a producer, shared this story with Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy on a recent episode of Variety’s “Actors on Actors”.
“Chuck Roven, one of your producers, gave me a call because we had collaborated on previous projects,” Robbie recalled.
“He suggested, ‘I think you guys should change your date.’ I responded, ‘We’re not changing our date. If you’re apprehensive about facing us, then you should shift your date.’ He insisted, ‘We’re not changing our date. I just feel it would be better for you to move.’ And I stood my ground, ‘We’re not budging! I believe this pairing is excellent.'”
Both blockbusters eventually hit cinemas on the same day – 21 June – leading to a global summer sensation labelled as Barbenheimer.
The excitement resulted in fans flocking to cinemas to see Greta Gerwig’s existentialist comedy alongside Nolan’s three-hour biopic about the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer.
“It’s a perfectly matched double feature… Clearly, the world agreed. Thank goodness,” Robbie concluded.
The actor, aged 47 and known for their role in Peaky Blinders, revealed that Nolan holds certain superstitions about that particular date. They disclosed that the majority of the director’s films tend to be released around that time.
Within the initial 17 days of its global release, Barbie crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office, shattering numerous records. This accomplishment also marked Gerwig as the first solo female filmmaker to achieve a billion-dollar hit. Currently, the movie stands as the highest-grossing film of 2023.
Oppenheimer, on the other hand, amassed a staggering $952.6 million in global box office earnings, securing its position as the third highest-grossing film of 2023.
Data from research company The Quorum indicates that Oppenheimer experienced a significant surge in box office numbers due to the commercial success of Gerwig’s film.
Both movies received enthusiastic feedback, with The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey hailing Barbie as a “near-miraculous achievement” in her five-star review. She separately commended Oppenheimer for its “clever and imaginative” approach in her four-star review.
