Christopher Nolan Says ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ Opening Together Is ‘Terrific’ Because a ‘Crowded’ Marketplace Is a ‘Healthy’ One: ‘We’ve Been Waiting’ For This

As thousands of moviegoers gear up for double features of Greta Gerwigs Barbie and Christopher Nolans Oppenheimer, one person taking joy in the Barbenheimer craze is Nolan himself. Although his movie will be battling Barbie at the box office, Nolan recently told IGN that its terrific to have both summer tentpoles open on the same day.

Summer, in a healthy marketplace, is always crowded, and weve been doing this a long time, Nolan said. I think for those of us who care about movies, weve been really waiting to have a crowded marketplace again, and now its here and thats terrific.

Cillian Murphy, who stars in the title role of Oppenehimer, agreed with Nolan, telling IGN: I think its great. I mean, Ill be going to see Barbie. I cant wait to see it. I think its just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out the same day. Could spend a whole day in the cinema, whats better than that?

I love the fact that people are talking about going to two movies in a weekend, added Oppenheimer co-star Matt Damon. Ben [Affleck] and I used to go to two movies every weekend, and I think people should do that.

A third Oppenheimer cast member, Emily Blunt, called it awesome for the two movies to be opening at once as the interest in the variety of whats available is so awesome.

While Barbie and Oppenheimer were originally pitted as rivals (most likely because Nolan left Barbie studio Warner Bros. after over a decade to make Oppenheimer at Universal), the two movies have started to uplift one another in recent weeks. AMC Theatresreported on July 10 that over 20,000 members of its AMC Stubs program have purchased tickets to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day.

That more than 20,000 moviegoers have already made plans and purchased tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day is a great sign that the growing online conversation around seeing both of these incredible films is turning into ticket sales, said Elizabeth Frank, executive VP of worldwide programming and chief content officer at AMC Theatres.

Barbie and Oppenheimer open in theaters July 21 from Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, respectively.