Margot Robbie Didn't Want to Move Barbie Release Date For a Peculiar Reason
The producers of Oppenheimer reached out to the actress/EP to prevent the two films from opening at the same time.
Summary
- Barbie and Oppeheimer are this year's most outstanding premieres.
- The films' producers were cautious about releasing their projects on the same date.
- Margot Robbie believed the two pictures were too different to compete against each other.
The year is almost over, and it's fair to say that it saw a number of notable premieres. From Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantimania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to Fast X and the most anticipated duo Barbenheimer, 2023 has been rich in top-tier releases despite the major WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The latter two films, Greta Gerwig's hot-pink Barbie and Christopher Nolan's gruesome biopic Oppenheimer, remain the year's biggest hits, with a combined gross of nearly $2.5 billion. But their success wasn't always so obvious.
Released on the same day in mid-July, Barbie and Oppenheimer were expected to create stiff competition. What's more, the actors' strike began on the day of both films' premieres, which prevented the actors from promoting their respective projects. Naturally, the films' producers feared failure. So much so that there was talk of splitting the two releases.
Oppenheimer's Producers Wanted to Push Barbie
According to Margot Robbie, who not only portrayed the title character but also executive produced Barbie, she was contacted by Oppenheimer's crew and asked to move the comedy's release date so that the two films would not be in competition.
'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!"' Margot Robbie told Oppenheimer's star Cillian Murphy in a recent interview.
Apparently, the actress had a particular reason not to give in to the pleas.
Margot Robbie Thought Barbenheimer Was A 'Really Great Pairing'
Essentially, the Barbie star/EP felt that her movie and Oppenheimer were perfect together, complementing each other in every way.
'It's a perfect double billing… Clearly the world agreed. Thank God. The fact that people were going and being like, "Oh, watch Oppenheimer first, then Barbie." I was like, "See? People like everything." People are weird… I think they were also really excited by the filmmakers. People were itching for the next Chris Nolan film and itching for the next Greta Gerwig film. To get them at the same time was exciting,' Margot Robbie shared.
Source: Variety.