Movie theaters saw large crowds over the weekend as “Barbenheimer” was released to an enthusiastic public.
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” together were dubbed “Barbenheimer” on social media when fans discovered the two films were going to be released in theaters on the same day.
Seeing the two films as a double feature has been a popular plan for moviegoers, with actors and fans alike debating online over what order to see them in.
At MovieScoop Kent Plaza Cinemas, viewers can view a schedule of complementary showtimes to plan their double feature, according to Director of Marketing Liz Harper.
Harper said she is excited about what this means, not just for the Kent movie theater, but for movie lovers across the globe.
“It’s not necessarily about making big budget movies and making big bank for the movie studio executives,” she said. “It’s about entertaining people and carrying people away into a different world, and so I think this is a way to celebrate that.”
Even though the films starkly contrast each other in terms of genre, both franchises are mutually benefitting from the shared release, rather than suffering or forming a rivalry.
“I think it is so fantastic that you have two seemingly polar opposite movies, you know, you have the plastic doll icon versus the godfather of the atomic weapons coming together, and they seem diametrically opposed, but in some ways, they’re both American icons,” Harper said.
In marketing for “Barbie,” distributed by Warner Bros. Studios and “Oppenheimer,” distributed by Universal Pictures, the two studios were able to help improve each other’s sales.
“Usually they fight tooth and nail, traditionally, for audiences, and they will even change release dates if they feel that another movie might eclipse their ticket sales, but here it was just a full embrace, which is so cool,” Harper said.
Harper partially credits this to the current state Hollywood is in due to the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing union strikes.
“They’re produced by two rival movie studios, but I guess given the state of the industry, these studios have sort of buried their rivalries to allow actors in these two movies to do promotion for the other movie,” she said.
One of these instances was posted on the Barbie movie’s promotional Twitter, where director Greta Gerwig and “Barbie” actress Margot Robbie enthusiastically held up their “Oppenheimer” tickets.
“Barbenheimer” audience members at Kent Plaza Cinemas were given various opportunities to receive the full Barbie experience. This included Barbie-themed popcorn buckets, which sold out over the weekend, and pink and blue drinks with edible glitter. The theater also set up places for fans to take pictures in a giant Barbie doll box and a photo backdrop.
Similar to the many people across social media who have shown their “Barbenheimer” themed outfits this weekend, many people at Kent Plaza Cinemas also arrived at the theater decked out in pink attire.
The workers themselves have been wearing various costumes every day to support the double feature, but they can mainly be seen in blonde wigs and sporting different shades of pink.
Madison Billings was dressed in neon pink and went blonde for the day as she served popcorn to eager audience members. While discussing why she thought the theaters had been unusually crowded this weekend, she gave one simple answer: “It’s Barbie.”
Kayla Gleason is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
