Speaking with Cillian Murphy for Variety's 'Actors on Actors', the 'Suicide Squad' actress reveals one of the producers of Christopher Nolan's biopic asked her to move the date of her comedy film to avoid clashing on the same day.
- December 6, 2023
AceShowbiz - Margot Robbie never had any qualms about "Barbie" going up against "Oppenheimer" in theaters. While the two movies proved to be a perfect summer combo, leading to the term "Barbenheimer", the actress claimed that she was asked by one of "Oppenheimer" producers to move the release date of her comedy film.
Speaking with Cillian Murphy for Variety's "Actors on Actors", the Australian beauty revealed her brazen response to the request as she refused to fold. "One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects," she told the Robert Oppenheimer depicter. "And he was like, 'I think you guys should move your date.' "
"And I was like, 'We're not moving our date. If you're scared to be up against us, then you move your date,' " Robbie continued. "And he's like, 'We're not moving our date. I just think it'd be better for you to move.' And I was like, 'We're not moving!' I think this is a really great pairing, actually. It's a perfect double billing, 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie'."
Murphy praised Robbie for her "good instinct," as the actress bragged, "Clearly the world agreed. Thank God. The fact that people were going and being like, 'Oh, watch 'Oppenheimer' first, then 'Barbie'.' I was like, 'See? People like everything.' People are weird."
"Oppenheimer" did not change its release date either and was released on same day with "Barbie", July 21, as Murphy stressed the significance of the date for director Christopher Nolan. He said, "Christopher Nolan was always determined that it would be released in the summer as a big tentpole movie. That was always his plan. And he has this superstition around that date, the 21st."
When asked if all of Nolan's movies always came out on that date, the "Inception" star clarified, "In and around the 21st of July - they always come out then."
Both "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" received critical acclaims and gained success at box office. The Greta Gerwig-directed pic broke record as the highest-grossing live-action comedy film of all time, while Nolan's film became the second-highest-grossing R-rated film of all-time behind "Joker" (2019).
