On July 21, 2023, two seemingly unrelated movies were released: “Barbie”, a phenomenon of pink, compared to “Oppenheimer”, a thrillingly explosive. Both movies have been successful in their own ways, but they are also connected, so what really made this success so grand?
One movie was about a childhood toy, the other about the creation of the atomic bomb. So far, “Barbie” has generated $1.38 billion, making it the biggest globally earning Warner Brothers film ever. “Oppenheimer” has made $853 million, giving it the number three title of the most successful Christopher Nolan movies. A plethora of intricate work is behind these great successes.
Firstly, the marketing of both movies was remarkable. “Barbie” reportedly spent over $150 million on marketing alone by connecting with agencies such as Progressive Insurance and Airbnb. “Oppenheimer” took a different approach by spending a slightly more conservative $100 million on marketing, putting this money mostly toward trailers, interviews and behind the scenes looks.
Separately, the marketing did splendidly, but then “Barbenheimer” was created. Since these two massive blockbuster movies were coming out on the same day, they were instantly put together and social media took this idea by storm.
Memes, filters, fake movie posters, and more were created and spread around to the point that “Barbenhiemer” almost became reality. This method of marketing could have failed, but instead it worked exceptionally well, giving a great amount of attention to both movies.
Freshman Ava Edwards concured with this idea.
“Without each other they wouldn’t have been as big of a deal,” Edwards said. “I don’t think people would have given them as much attention if they weren’t looped together… even though they were so different, they were able to kind of feed off of each other.”
Also, fear of missing out, or “FOMO”, may have played a role in this whole endeavor. Since the movies were so popular online, it was almost as if people couldn’t watch one without watching the other. If they didn’t watch the movies as soon as they were released, then the people were missing out on what everyone else had already seen. If you were planning on watching them, it was exciting to see them while in theaters or else some of the magic may have disappeared when they finally did see the movies.
Part of what added to this crucial feeling of watching the movies in theaters was the trend of wearing pink to see “Barbie”. Many images and videos have been posted of men and women alike going into the cinema while wearing the signature pink. This fad of wearing pink added an extra layer of excitement to the movie theater, for even if viewers weren’t wearing the color, going to see the movie in theaters was compelling for many people simply because they had seen the trend online.
Although State High freshman Adam Schawntes did not wear pink, he said that, “There was like an urge to watch ‘Barbie’ before it wasn’t in theaters anymore.”
The fact that both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are overall great movies cannot be forgotten. The former hit an emotional switch in many people while the latter was entertaining in the way any great Christopher Nolan movie is. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Barbie” got an 88% in likability and “Oppenheimer” got a resounding 91%.
Overlooking the marketing and trends, these movies are worthy of attention simply because they are good.
“They were completely different movies but they were both good in their own ways,” Edwards said.
In the end, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have become the films of the year, or maybe even the decade. Marketing, social media trends, FOMO and more have led to movie success like no other and this influx of viewers may very well continue even after the movies have left theaters. On the off-chance that you haven’t watched either of these films yet, many would highly recommend that you do, for one day they may define the cinematic universe of 2023.
