July 21 marked the release of two major movies: Barbie and Oppenheimer. Barbie is about the iconic doll and directed by Greta Gerwig; Oppenheimer is directed by Christopher Nolan and about the scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer who was the father of the atomic bomb. Together the two movies make Barbenheimer. 

Both movies had incredible success at the box office. During opening weekend, Barbie brought in $162 million, while Oppenheimer brought in $82.4 million. Also Barbie and Gerwig made history by having the biggest opening weekend for a female director. Meanwhile this was Nolan’s best opening for his movie since The Dark Knight trilogy.

This summer was a dry spell for the movie industry with many hyped movies underperforming at the box office. Then there’s Barbenheimer which came along, creating a boom for the movie industry. Don’t expect anything like this to happen again anytime soon: since the writers and actors guild are on strike many movies are being delayed, plus nothing new will be in the works.

Barbenheimer has had a massive effect on the pop culture world, Barbie especially. A recent fashion trend that has emerged is Barbie core, which is one of the reasons why lead actress Margot Robbie appeared on the Vogue summer cover. Multiple news sources did double features with both casts. No movie has had this amount of influence, marketing, and longevity in a long time. 

Overall, Barbie and Oppenheimer have ended up being the biggest movies this year, and are likely to stay that way throughout the rest of the year. Both movies are still available to watch at your local movie theater.