Is calling Barbenheimer – AKA July 21, the day Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer come out on the 2023 movie schedule – the cinematic event of the year too much? It might be, but I really can’t get over how many people have been posting about the amazingness that is these two polar opposite films coming out on the same day. Now, as the promotional cycles for both movies kick into high gear, fans have been rocking Barbenheimer T-shirts, and one person had Margot Robbie sign one, and of course, she had the best response.
We’ve been talking about Barbie and Oppenheimer coming out on the same day for a while now. However, with the film releases coming in a couple of weeks, the discourse has picked up, and there’s even fan-made-merch for the cinematic event. So, as the cast of Barbie did press in Australia, a fan showed Margot Robbie her Barbenheimer shirt, which featured both the actress’s Barbie and Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer in their wide-brimmed hats. The actress behind the titular character noticed the shirt, and had an A+ reaction to it, as you can see in @mjcooke’s Tweet of the interaction:
barbie x oppenheimer is margot robbie approved! 💖💥 pic.twitter.com/alp1f0Y87nJuly 4, 2023
I really can’t picture Robbie having a better reaction. She graciously accepted the excellent Barbenheimer shirt, used a pink Sharpie to autograph it (of course), and then gave the fan some A+ advice for what they should do next, saying:
OK, I have to sign it on this side. I hope you meet Cillian Murphy and he can sign the other side.
While the memes about Barbenhiemer have been one of my favorite things traveling around the internet, seeing the Barbie cast embrace the hilarity of the situation makes it even better.
Also, this moment between Robbie and the excited Barbie/Oppenheimer fan came right after the actress and Gerwig accepted Tom Cruise's challenge to get tickets for the two aforementioned movies, plus Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The summer movie line-up is truly stacked, and to put it simply, it has range. Nothing shows the diversity of content for the next few months off better than this Barbenheimer situation.
I love that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig have fully leaned into the internet's goofy shenanigans surrounding their movie's release date, and seeing them directly interact with the discourse brings me so much joy. Hopefully, as the Oppenheimer press tour begins, we’ll get some input from Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy.
While the director and leading man of Oppenheimer haven’t really commented on the release date, Matt Damon has given his two cents on Barbenheimer. As another star of the historical drama, he provided some funny and useful advice for fans trying to figure out how to go about seeing the movies, noting that you “are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend.”
Like Damon, Robbie seems to be all for fans going to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer on the weekend of July 21. Also, she clearly supports the fun merch being made for the unique cinematic event. Now, we just need to hope Cillian Murphy is just as willing to play into the fun of Barbenheimer and sign this fan's lovely T-shirt.
