This Barbie Comes With a Nuke: Tom Cruise Recommends ‘Oppenheimer’ Double Feature

in Entertainment, Movies & TV

barbie versus oppenheimer at the box office

Credit: ITM

We were all a little jealous when we discovered that Tom Cruise got to see the highly-divisive Flash movie before anybody else – everyone had been curious, but the mega-star got it one month in advance.

Well, it seems that Tom Cruise is now the arbiter of all blockbuster films – after Top Gun: Maverick was credited with saving movie theaters after the pandemic, we suppose it makes sense. The actor has now seen all of the summer’s biggest upcoming blockbusters so far, and he has issued the following judgment:

This summer is full of amazing movies to see in theaters…I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than one with Oppenheimer and Barbie.

Related: Will The Mattel Cinematic Universe Take Off After ‘Barbie?’

Granted, not all of Tom Cruise’s judgments hold up: He praised The Flash with a lot of enthusiasm, and that film fell behind both Across The Spider-Verse and Elemental at the Box Office on Wednesday, despite the latter having been out for weeks already.

That doesn’t matter here, though – in this context, what’s really interesting is that Barbie and Oppenheimer are once again being billed as a double feature.

Hollywood Really Wants Us To See The Bomb and The Bombshell as a Double Feature

all of the barbies from the barbie movie dance together margot robbie in front
Credit: Warner Bros.

Related: “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice Breaks Records in Less Than a Day

It’s a weird combination: See a movie about the invention of the nuclear bomb, then transition straight into what is literally the pinkest movie ever made, about a doll and her discovery of the Real World (Well, we suppose it doesn’t get more real than a nuke.)

Still, it’s a recommendation that has been made before – it’s suggested half in jest whenever somebody brings up the fact that the two films both come out on July 21. It’s almost like nobody wants them to compete – Matt Damon even mentioned, in response to the Bomb vs. Bombshell battles online, that people can see more than one movie in a weekend.

Now, however, people are beginning to take the idea seriously – one comment on an article in Deadline even pointed out that the children who first played with Barbies were the same children who grew up under the constant threat of nuclear warfare, so the films would be nostalgic in two very different ways, especially when seen together.

Still, in the end, the films will have to complete – the Box Office is the Box Office, and one of the films will simply have to make more money.

Which Film Will Win at the Box Office: ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer?’

cillian murphy in oppenheimer
Credit: Universal

Related: Greta Gerwig Says She Played With Barbie Dolls “Too Long”

Audiences online seem to be sure that it will be Barbie – as this is the film with the most in-your-face marketing, this is not surprising. There’s also the fact that it’s one of those rare films that are aimed directly at women, which are usually huge draws when they do come through.

Kevin Goetz, CEO of ScreenEngine and known across the industry for delivering incisive and exacting predictions during tests of films that are supposed to come to theaters – and for sending some directly to TV screens. Filmmakers deeply respect Goetz’s predictions, and he’s become that way by analyzing data and seeing how audiences react to the films.

After seeing both Barbie and Oppenheimer, he seems to think that the historical film will take the cake, according to Deadline. The important history discussed in the film may just help it edge out the boiling internet fervor bubbling for Barbie.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens when Barbie and Oppenheimer hit theaters on July 21.

Which film do you think will win at the box office? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below.

in Entertainment, Movies & TV

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