BARBENHEIMER: 8 Times Where Two Blockbuster Films Were Released On The Same Day

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures / Universal Pictures

Last year, many people across the world had this day (July 21st) circled on their calendars. Not one but two blockbusters were released on this date. Leading up to them coming out, fans worldwide patiently waited to hit the theaters to check them out. The hype behind both Barbie and Oppenheimer were through the roof. It was very difficult to be on social media and not see something related to the films. All the excitement led to big box office returns for both (Barbie’s current worldwide total is $1.446 billion; Oppenheimer’s current worldwide total is $976.1 million). If you’ve been under a rock, here’s a synopsis of the two movies.

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer is an IMAX-shot epic thriller that thrusted audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it. The film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist credited with being the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan Project—the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Oscar winner Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Academy Award nominee Florence Pugh and Oscar winner Rami Malek.

Barbie is a fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she wrote with Noah Baumbach. Based on the Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel, it is the first live-action Barbie film after numerous computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming television films. The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, who go on a journey of self-discovery after their expulsion from Barbieland. Robbie and Gosling are joined by a large ensemble cast that includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Helen Mirren and Will Ferrell.

Although the films are on completely different sides of the spectrum, them having the same release date has made them forever synonymous with each other. In fact, ‘Barbenheimer’ was trending on Twitter for weeks and there are countless memes/videos merging the two films’ worlds together. Although it’s very rare for two films of this magnitude to be released on the same day, it’s not uncommon. Scroll down to see a list of instances where two huge movies were released on the same day. Let us know which release date has the movies you enjoy the most in the comments!