Robbie, who also produced “Barbie,” talked about a phone call she received from an old friend, now a bigwig at Universal, who insisted she move the “Barbie” release date. Robbie prodded her friend, implying that Universal was afraid to lose money to “Barbie.” Talking to Murphy, Robbie explained:
“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.’ 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.'”
The two-in-one release, of course, ultimately helped both movies. “Barbie” is currently, domestically, the highest-grossing film of the year, while “Oppenheimer,” a grim, adult-oriented biopic, is the fifth-highest grossing. It also helped that both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were very, very good, and also that their titles could be handily mashed into a cute portmanteau.
Other executives might want to keep a closer eye on this sort of hand-in-hand counter-programming. One might be savvy to the fact that the ultra-successful concert film “Tayor Swift: The Eras Tour” was originally scheduled opposite the horror sequel “The Exorcist: Believer.” At the last minute, “The Exorcist” was moved to the week before “Eras.” Which was a pity because “Exorswift” was right there. That was another ironic double feature in the making.
It may have helped matters if “The Exorcist: Believer” wasn’t a terrible movie, however.