The clash of the megamovies Barbie and Oppenheimer, nicknamed 'Barbenheimer' is one big screen battle that has captured the popular imagination unlike anything seen in recent times, at least when it comes to Hollywood. The two are as different as chalk is to cheese, or if one wants a movie metaphor (it's only fitting), as different as Godzilla vs Kong and Persuasion.
While movies clashing on the big screen on the same day is not something unusual, this one, in particular, begs a decent amount of attention because of the enormous publicity involved and also because of the fact that the craze for the films is being seen as a positive sign, especially after the slump in moviegoers amid a long-drawn pandemic.
While the competition is immense, if trends and movie experts are to be believed, the incessant discussions on the two movies are only going to set the box office cash registers ringing.
“Barbie and Oppenheimer are basically the perfect frenemies at the box office this weekend,” Dave Karger, the Turner Classic Movies host told The New York Times. “Yes, they’re technically competitors, but they’re largely going after different audiences, and the Barbenheimer hype seems only to be helping both films.”
Now, as we await the clash of Greta Geriwg's very pink, very candy-coated Barbie and Nolan's masterpiece on the ushering of the 'atomic age', let's take a look at some of the movies, both Hollywood and Bollywood that hit the screens together.
Hollywood movies
The Dark Knight vs Mamma Mia: In July 2008, Nolan's The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) arrived head-to-head with Meryl Streep's Mamma Mia!. Both films scored very well at the box office despite targeting very different audiences.
The year 1999 saw Keanu Reeves' The Matrix pitted against 10 Things I Hate About You.
In November of 1995, Martin Scorsese’s epic crime saga Casino and Pixar’s first feature Toy Story clashed as well, giving the audience two very different movies to enjoy.
There was yet another set of joint releases in 1995 - Robin Williams starrer Jumanji and Heat, with movie giants Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
In June of 1984, the horror-comedy Ghostbusters was released while Warner Bros. released their own horror-comedy, Spielberg-produced Gremlins. Both films were very successful at the box office.
Bollywood too saw a few clashes of movies in recent years.
Bollywood
In 2017, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees released along with Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil, both on January 26.
A year before that, Karan Johar's Dharma Productions also released Ae Dil hai Mushkil with Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. It clashed with Ajay Devgn starrer Shivaay.
In 2015, Rohit Shetty directed Dilwale, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon opened on the same day with Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh starrer Bajirao Mastani.
Coming back to the clash of epic proportions, this is the first time the world-famous Barbie doll is being brought to the big screen alongside her partner Ken. Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in title roles, the film is aimed at women. Nolan's grand historic saga stars Cillian Murphy as the titular character with Emily Blunt and Matt Damon playing significant roles.