‘Barbenheimer’ Fever: Meet the Film Lovers Turning ‘Barbie’-‘Oppenheimer’ Double Features Into the Movie Event of the Year
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Over a single weekend, 28-year-old Toronto resident Daniel Konikoff will experience two life-changing events.
On July 23, he’s getting married. Two days before, he’s going to the movies with his bride-to-be and their entire wedding party for a double feature of Greta Gerwig’s very pink romp “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s extremely dark historical drama “Oppenheimer.” “It stemmed from a joke, and then we started to actually create a plan,” Konikoff says. “So, the double bill is a little wedding-adjacent party.” As soon as the second movie lets out at 1 a.m. — “it’s bed!” he adds. “And then we drive to the venue.
There’s not a lot of sleep, but you gotta do what you gotta do.” Konikoff and company are among the merry band of movie lovers who are leaning into the social media frenzy known as “Barbenheimer” by planning back-to-back screenings of the two seemingly different films with twin release dates.
That’s right: The countless memes, fan art and apparel has turned into a real-world phenomenon. Two weeks before opening day on July 21, AMC Theatres reported that 20,000 people have purchased tickets to see “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on the same day. “This may only be the beginning,” says AMC Theatres executive Elizabeth Frank.
Read more on variety.com