Latest news with #Barbenheimer
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Barbenheimer's Epic Double Feature Happened 2 Years Ago, And I'm Worried I'll Never Get That Same Experience
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Back in 2023, there was a time when it felt as if all was right with the world, and that, my friends, was Barbenheimer. While the 2025 movie schedule has been filled to the brim with great releases, I really don't think we're going to get another time like this, and that worries me. It's been two years. I know, it's hard to believe it, but it has, and it honestly feels like a lifetime at this point. We have had some major releases come out since then, such as the latest Superman, which turned me into a fan. Or we could point to Wicked, which took over the world for a month or two. However, nothing has hit quite as hard as when these two films – Barbie and Oppenheimer – were released simultaneously. And honestly, I don't think we're going to get another instance like this, at least for a long time. Barbenheimer Was Perfectly Timed During The Summer I think a big reason why Barbenheimer was such a success was that both of these releases were planned at the perfect time – right in the middle of summer. I always feel that the most successful blockbusters tend to happen at this point, and it's clear both of these, by their box office amounts, did incredibly well. Barbie earned well over $1 billion, and Oppenheimer came really close to the mark, as did a rated-R movie. However, because many people had a day off or two during this time, seeing the double feature was that much easier. The Amount Of Marketing For Both Was Done Amazingly Well And Spawned An Era Unlike Any Other Another significant factor contributing to this success is that the marketing teams were on point. We all already knew Christopher Nolan's best films. We were all already aware of the pull Barbie had as a toy. However, the fact that these two were eventually marketed together as a double feature paved the way for its success. They had their marketing – it was practically pink mania for months with Barbie. However, I think it worked best when people combined the films into one prominent double feature, allowing fans to dress up for each and go out with their friends, making it a whole event rather than just an outing or a date. That's the key in marketing here. The Fanbases Somehow Collided In A Way Unlike Ever Before, And I Don't Think We'll Get That Again The beauty of this is that Barbenheimer is special. Something like this has happened before, where two totally conflicting genres released major films on the same day – The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia!, a movie I rewatch all the time – but that was never as grand an event. The same thing happened with the release of Wicked and Gladiator, and how marketing teams tried to make it the new Barbenheimer, but it just didn't work – even if both films did very well. I think Barbenheimer is a one-and-done, and that does sadden me. There was something so…magical about this time, as cheesy as that sounds. The idea of two completely different fan bases coming together to celebrate films, in two totally different styles, is something that I will always love and never forget. The hype that led up to this made it even more enjoyable, and attending the double feature with my friends and a crowd of people who just loved movies was unlike any other. Maybe one day we'll get another Barbenheimer. But you know what? I'm happy with it living in my memory, even if I feel that we're never going to get another time like this one. Solve the daily Crossword
News18
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Barbenheimer Turns 2: How The Clash Of 'Barbie' And 'Oppenheimer' Broke The Internet
Last Updated: Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer created one of the biggest clashes of movies in July 2023. the Internet coined the phenomenon as 'Barbenheimer'. Barbenheimer turned 2 years this week. The unusual clash between two movies Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer that hit the theatres on the same day became the meme of 2023. Gerwig's Barbie was based on the iconic childhood doll. On the other hand, Nolan's Oppenheimer was a retelling of the creation of an atomic bomb. In a world where studios steer away from same day releases knowing one movie would hog up another movie's tickets and business, both Barbie and Oppenheimer stood on their own and did incredibly well commercially, all thanks to the Internet turning the clash into an online movement – Barbenheimer. Barbie Greta Gerwig's Barbie had its distinct personality – tone, colour palette, and a fictional world. The movie follows the world of Barbie living in idyllic, matriarchal Barbieland. There she lives happily until she is hit with existential crisis. She embarks upon a journey with Ken into the real world where she discovers herself while she is introduced to patriarchy and finds her own agency. Barbie 's light-hearted yet purposeful tale did not pale in comparison or get overshadowed by Nolan's when it came to hype as it did a reported business of $1.447 billion. Made on a budget of $145 million, Barbie starred Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Oppenheimer was a tale about J. Robert Oppenheimer, American theoretical physicist, considered the 'father of the atomic bomb", who was pivotal in overseeing the development the destructive weapon. Nolan, with icons such as The Dark Knight series, Interstellar, The Prestige, Inception, and Momento in his credits guaranteed another blockbuster and Oppenheimer was no exception. The movie starred Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer. The ensemble cast included Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Emily Blunt, among others. Nolan's 2023 directorial reportedly did a business of $975 million while being made on a budget of $100 million. Barbenheimer There was no escape from the online euphoria. Barbie and Oppenheimer created the biggest rivalry on the Internet until it wasn't. Audiences realised that both the movies, set in completely different worlds, had to be viewed on the big screen. It wasn't Barbie Vs Oppenheimer but Barbie + Oppenheimer for them. Nolan knew that this kind of interest would revive cinemas that had suffered beyond comprehension owing to a global pandemic. 'I think for those of us who care about movies, we've been really waiting to have a crowded marketplace again, and now it's here, and that's terrific," the director was quoted as saying by IGN. Meme Galore Barbenheimer wasn't your regular meme, it was an online spectacle. The power of the Internet was at full display in the run up to the release of both the movies. 1 ticket for 1 ticket forOppenheimer Barbieplease 💣 please 💖 — office dundies (@officedundies) July 15, 2023 1 ticket for 1 ticket foroppenheimer barbie please 💣 please 💖 — faby jurídico modern family (@fabyollaverass) July 15, 2023 Barbenheimer 21.07.23The world will remember this day — cinesque (@thecinesque) July 21, 2025 X decided not to choose sides but join hands in celebrating both the movies. 'Still processing the emotional impact of #Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy's portrayal of Oppenheimer was hauntingly beautiful, and Robert Downey Jr.'s performance was simply outstanding. Bravo!" a user on X wrote. 'barbie movie changed my life i think, (sic)" a fan, reviewing Grewig's masterpiece, remarked. tags : Barbie Oppenheimer view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 22, 2025, 13:49 IST News explainers Barbenheimer Turns 2: How The Clash Of 'Barbie' And 'Oppenheimer' Broke The Internet Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Chicago Tribune
21-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Scopes monkey trial ends
Today is Monday, July 21, the 202nd day of 2025. There are 163 days left in the year. Today in History: On July 21, 1925, the so-called 'Monkey Trial' ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. (The conviction was later overturned.) Scopes monkey trial, broadcast by WGN radio, held nation in thrall 100 years agoColumn: Returning again to the Scopes 'monkey trial,' and what I learnedAlso on this date: In 1861, during the Civil War, the first Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manassas, Virginia, resulting in a Confederate victory. In 1944, American forces landed on Guam during World War II, capturing it from the Japanese some three weeks later. In 1954, the Geneva Conference concluded with accords dividing Vietnam into northern and southern entities. In 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin blasted off from the moon aboard the ascent stage of the lunar module for docking with the command module. In 1970, construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed. In 1972, the Irish Republican Army carried out 22 bombings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing nine people and injuring 130 in what became known as 'Bloody Friday.' In 2002, Ernie Els won the British Open in the first sudden-death finish in the 142-year history of the tournament. In 2008, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's top war crimes fugitives, was arrested in a Belgrade suburb by Serbian security forces. (He was sentenced by a U.N. court in 2019 to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.) In 2011, the 30-year-old space shuttle program ends as Atlantis landed at Cape Canaveral, Florida, after the 135th shuttle flight. In 2012, Erden Eruc became the first person to complete a solo, human-powered circumnavigation of the globe. In 2023, the 'Barbenheimer' buzz reached its peak as the films 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' opened in theaters; the critical and public acclaim for both films led to the fourth-largest weekend box office of all time. Column: The lesson Hollywood should learn from 'Barbenheimer'? Let originality come Birthdays: Singer Yusuf Islam (also known as Cat Stevens) is 77. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is 77. Author Michael Connelly is 69. Comedian Jon Lovitz is 68. Retired soccer player Brandi Chastain is 57. Rock-soul singer Michael Fitzpatrick (Fitz and the Tantrums) is 55. Actor/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg is 54. Actor Justin Bartha is 47. Actor Josh Hartnett is 47. Reggae singer Damian Marley is 47. Basketball Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings is 46. Former MLB All-Star pitcher CC Sabathia is 45. Singer Blake Lewis ('American Idol') is 44. Latin singer Romeo Santos is 44. Actor Betty Gilpin is 39. Actor Juno Temple is 36. Actor Rory Culkin is 36.
Metro
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
2023's biggest and most explosive blockbuster is streaming this weekend
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The 2023 epic blockbuster Oppenheimer will be available to stream on Netflix this weekend. In 2023, the film's concurrent release with Barbie resulted in the Barbenheimer phenomenon, which saw fans watch the movies back to back as a double feature. The contrast between the equally well-received bold pink fantasy comedy and the serious historical drama had audiences in a chokehold and spawned memes, viral TikToks and excellent box office sales for both films. Coming to Netflix on Saturday, the three-hour biographical thriller is the perfect weekend watch for those looking for something meaty to chew on. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, American Prometheus, the film focuses on the 'father of the atomic bomb' and his torment at creating such a deadly weapon of mass destruction. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. The film has a star-filled cast with Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, plus Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. Spanning across several years, the film begins in 1926 when Oppenheimer was a student and ends in 1963 after exploring the events of the discovery of nuclear fission, the Manhattan Project, the devastating use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima, and Oppenheimer's 1954 security clearance hearing. Writer-director Christopher Nolan is behind the project, his previous films include Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy and The Prestige. The film was met with high praise and was nominated for thirteen awards at the 96th Academy Awards, winning seven awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Murphy) and Best Supporting Actor (Downey). The film also snagged five Golden Globes and seven Baftas. Metro's Tori Brazier said in her review: 'As expected (and hoped for), Nolan has produced a taut and twisty intelligent blockbuster that asks its audience to think along with the film. More Trending 'However, he never quite tips over into the realms of overly complex or intellectual – this is mainly down to the riveting character study he and Murphy present of Oppenheimer, and the pace and panache with which other figures enter and exit his life.' 'Oppenheimer left me stunned: a character study on the grandest scale, with a sublime central performance by Cillian Murphy. An epic historical drama but with a distinctly Nolan sensibility: the tension, structure, sense of scale, startling sound design, remarkable visuals. Wow,' praised Total Film's deputy editor Matt Maytum. Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin called it 'a total knockout that split my brain open like a twitchy plutonium nucleus and left me sobbing through the end credits like I can't even remember what else'. Oppenheimer will be available to stream on Netflix on July 12. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix's new director working on 'boundary-pushing' psychological thriller after film streamed 185,000,000 times MORE: Netflix fans devastated that most 'feel-good' show is ending after 7 years MORE: Too Much is Netflix's best ever comedy – I've already binged it twice
The Spinoff
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
What it's like to go blind at 25
My father and I share the same experience of retinitis pigmentosa: we knew something was wrong when we could no longer see stars. It was Barbenheimer weekend – a real cultural reset. The slight scent of body odour and popcorn filled the musty recycled air of the Queen Street Event Cinema. Auckland was flocking to see hot Ryan Reynolds, hot Margot Robbie and hot war-crime Cillian Murphy all on the same day. We shuffled in to find our seats. Oppenheimer had already started 10 minutes ago; my friend had insisted she simply had to have a frozen Coke, along with the rest of Auckland's movie-going population. I walked into the black haze, illuminated faintly by the IMAX screen. I scrambled for the torch on my phone, because I could not see shit. Following my mate's white t-shirt ahead of me, I squeezed through the row, brushing people's knees, inadvertently blinding them with my torch, and fumbled for my seat in the middle of a row. 'Sit down, idiot!' I recognised the voice – it was my friend. He didn't know that I had retinitis pigmentosa, a rare condition which leads to almost complete 'night blindness', extreme sensitivity to glare, a gradual diminution of peripheral vision, leading to 'tunnel vision', and in extreme cases, blindness. In simple terms, it is a slow and painless death, atrophy, of the retina. To be fair to my friend, I didn't really know I had it either. I had just got back from a four-month jaunt in Europe, deciding that post-law-degree-post-break-up depression was best cured by a three-week Contiki tour with 50 alcoholic Australians, followed by three months of solo travel through Europe and Canada. Many of the Contiki walking tours, which are conducted 'by night', are unsurprisingly far less fun when the participant is unable to see anything. I found myself stumbling into puddles in Prague (to the delight of many – 'look at old mate playing in the puddles!'), walking into wheelbarrows on Amsterdam farms, and consciously avoiding the KitKatClub, a sex club in Berlin. I was afraid I would quite literally blindly stumble into an amorous situation, without even my own knowledge or consent. When I eventually reached Iceland, I gratefully basked in the island's 24-hour summer sunshine. Being night-blind is hard to explain. The best way I can describe it is: imagine you are looking at a scene at night, with the 'brightness' turned all the way down, and with every source of light flashing at you, so that all you see is a granular, blotchy, hazy mess. At night, everything is incredibly dark. Sometimes I cannot see anything. At a dimly lit party, I will often have to guess who I am talking to based on their voice alone. I carry a torch wherever I go. Winter is particularly difficult. I leave for the office, unable to see, and return home, unable to see. Daytime also brings its difficulties; hyper-sensitivity to glare is a paradoxical symptom of night blindness. My haphazard, somewhat scripted explanation of my visual impairment, usually prompted by what I have come to call a 'sit down, idiot' moment, is often met with unwelcome attempts at humour – something I have never quite understood. Once, on a dark night, I was struggling to find the lock on my old flat's front door. I was gouging the key into the door, missing the lock entirely. I explained my condition to my flatmate at the time, who produced a zinger – 'someone didn't eat enough carrots growing up!' Another personal favourite is 'no one can see in the dark, silly!' Honestly, the evolution of my impairment has really emphasised just how much the average person can see in the dark. Once, I was on a first date with a girl who very helpfully encouraged me to learn braille – excellent first date chat. For some reason, any explanation of my visual impairment turns everyone into prime Jerry Seinfeld, with 'observations' just as original. I had 20 years of optometrists, and even retina specialists, telling me that I had managed to avoid the disease. Unfortunately, just as everyone can be useless, medical specialists can also, sometimes, be useless. Combined with -6.50 shortsightedness, retinitis pigmentosa, labelled 'RP' by those in the know, is, if I may, an absolute cunt. Unfortunately, with RP, things get just a little bit worse – every single day. That means that every day you meet me, my vision is the worst it has ever been. There is no cure. I have never as much as Googled RP. I do not have the courage, yet. I hear that Paddy Gower has even done a documentary on RP, but likewise, I have not watched it. Maybe one day. My father also has RP. His mother, rest her soul, had RP. His aunty, her sister, has RP. As you may have gathered by this point, RP is genetic. My late grandmother – my father's mother, Irini – moved to Auckland from a tiny village called Mesavlia in Crete, Greece, when she was 17 years old. The main attraction of Mesavlia is that it has a water well. As far as I know, the village didn't have electricity until 1975. My grandmother was born in a local cave while her mother was hiding from the Nazis, who were inconveniently invading Crete at the time. The Cretans now endure a complicated relationship with the Germans, who have come to make up a significant portion of Crete's tourist population. I digress. One of my father's cousins, who lives in Chania, Crete's main city, refers to RP as the Koutoulaki Curse – Koutoulaki being my grandmother's maiden name. Perhaps it is a touch ironic that I have inherited nyctalopia, night blindness, from a woman who was born in a cave. While Eleni's daughter may see it as a curse, I do not. Or at least, not yet. We got off lightly. Some babies are born blind with RP. There are innumerable different types of RP, and it affects everyone differently. My father has been told by a specialist that our family's brand of RP, in the scheme of things, is quite mild. For that, I am thankful. I have cried to my father a few times, bemoaning a litany of 'sit down, idiot' moments, but then I remember it could be so much worse. In terms of the Koutoulaki Curse, symptoms tend to start in the 20s, and come on quite slowly – the odd stumble here and there. Things in the nightclub or mood-lit restaurant become just a little bit harder to navigate. Ironically, my grandmother even worked in a darkroom, developing photographs until she was about 30. She was almost completely blind when she died in 2023. A shared experience with my father: we knew something was wrong when we could no longer see stars. It is likely I will never see stars again, but hopes of an accessible cure are stronger with my generation. Apparently there is a government scheme where the offending gene can be isolated and removed for successful in vitro fertilisation, without fear of passing on the Curse to my children. I haven't looked into it. As I said, I have never even googled the condition. Although self-diagnosed through an almost identical timeline and experience to my father, I have been trying to get a formal diagnosis through an RP specialist in the public health system. So far I have been unsuccessful. Every month or so, I will be greeted with a lovely letter from Te Whatu Ora. Perhaps I finally have an appointment, or more likely, it will be the same template letter I get every month. For example, here is one I received in May 2025. The choice of 'days' as the unit of measurement really drives home how long I have been waiting, leading me to conclude that I am not seen as a priority. And they are right – I am not. As I have said, I am one of the lucky ones. Yes, it can only get worse, and the worsening peripheral vision is the real issue. The night blindness is an amuse-bouche for the joys of an ever-diminishing field of vision, which I have certainly started to notice, but will not get truly problematic for some time yet. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The Serenity Prayer springs to mind almost daily for me now as I stumble to the bathroom every morning, feeling for the light switch: 'O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed…'. The incurability of the Curse leaves only one variable – my attitude. Every day is a challenge, but I can see the humour in the Curse; I have to. I am a strong believer that humour can outrun harm, and sometimes you have to let it, despite others often seeing the funny side that hasn't been earned by experience. But I have earned the right to see the funny side. I once found myself in a strip club – I mean physically, not spiritually, as some of my friends are sex workers. I was being a supportive friend. Anyway, I got chatting to a woman. I was enjoying the conversation, but I couldn't see anything, really. Similar concerns arose as the ones that did for the sex clubs in Berlin. I was being very careful. I ventured into small talk. 'What do you do for work?' There was a pregnant pause. 'Honey… do you see what I'm wearing?' I focused very hard on the lady. An appropriate answer to her question would have been 'not much'; she was one of the workers. RP is also unintentionally slightly racist. At parties, or any low-light situation, I lose my brown friends far more often than my fluorescent white ones, whom I can just make out. My brown friends resemble something like the Cheshire Cat at night. Girlfriends of the past have noticed that my pupils get extremely dilated when it's dark, presumably to compensate for their nightly battle to let in enough light. This, combined with my often stumbling presence, leads to people asking if I need an Uber home. I have been asked at dimly lit, schmoozy work events if I'm 'on gear', due to my dinner-plate pupils and bumping-into-shit gait. People at Nest Fest thought I was in the 'K-hole', as I was lying happily unaware across a thoroughfare I could not see. The annual New Year midnight swim on Onetangi Beach on Waiheke, which I used to enjoy when I was at high school, I now have to sit out. I simply cannot see anything, and a sensory deprivation tank is not the best way to start the new year. Many a morning kiss has been unknowingly ignored. Many friends forget about my RP. Many, I have never even told. Often it is so difficult to explain, I would rather not. But the more I go through life, the more I want to centralise the Curse, rather than pretend it isn't there. I want to see as much as possible, in my peak years of vision. I increasingly wonder if a life with decreasing clarity is meant to be spent staring at a screen. I used to balk at the concept of an 'invisible disability'. What did that even mean? You're either using a wheelchair, or you're fine – that is, regrettably, how I thought when I was growing up. Yes, I was holding my father's hand when we went for evening walks, prompting funny looks from passers-by, but that pesky thing that Dad has certainly isn't a disability. That's crazy talk. Of course, my opinion on this has changed. My life is very different to what it was even three years ago. I have to think carefully about light. No, that bar is too dimly lit and I will make a tit of myself. No, I will not take a Lime scooter at 3am, for fear I may actually die. No, I won't go out tonight at all because 'I'm tired'. I do not have blind trust (ha) in a cure. Life cannot be spent waiting. All I can control is my attitude. This article is an attempt to look head on at something which I must confront every day, and which has so far been an isolating experience. While RP is a cunt, it is a cunt I wake up with, and go to bed with. My heart goes out to all with disabilities – physical or mental, big or small. Perhaps you see it as a curse. Perhaps you see it as your superpower. Regardless, it is part of who you are, and it doesn't take a working pair of eyes to see that.
