Barbie Vs. Oppenheimer, Batman Vs. Mamma Mia & Other Wild Movie Battles Explained

July 21, 2023 is an important day for cinephiles of all walks of life — in that two of the biggest movies of the summer, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," are set to hit theaters on the very same day.

Obviously, these movies are going to be vastly different in tone, style, and even length ("Barbie" wraps up under two hours, whereas "Oppenheimer" stretches to nearly three). "Barbie," directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written with her creative and life partner Noah Baumbach, is all hot pink aesthetics, camp, and spectacle; the film may have even caused an actual shortage of pink paint. Christopher Nolan's latest epic "Oppenheimer," on the other hand, is a dark, brooding story about the man who created the atomic bomb, so, you know, it's basically the opposite of "Barbie."

Releasing these two ridiculously different movies on the exact same day feels almost like an inside joke in Hollywood — but it's actually a tactic. As Reddit user u/Blinky-Bear explained on a thread, "To put it [simply], within film distribution, counterprogramming is a studio's marketing strategy to distribute a film that appeals to audience demographics not targeted by another film or a non-film event ... so two tonally drastic films can compete and be released on the same day to be shown for a specific group of audiences." From there, the OP asked which examples of this are as good as "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," and one unlikely pairing got a lot of love: "Mamma Mia!" and another Nolan flick, "The Dark Knight."

On July 18, 2008, the world was introduced to two major releases: Nolan's "The Dark Knight," which marked the second film in his "Batman" trilogy, and the adaptation of jukebox Abba musical "Mamma Mia!" Both had star-studded casts featuring pretty huge names; while "Mamma Mia!" featured Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skårsgard, and Meryl Streep, "The Dark Knight" boasted Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, and of course, the late Heath Ledger, who passed away before the movie's release.

Perhaps the funniest part of this wild set of movies being released on the same day is that they both became beloved movies in their own right... and both cleaned up at the box office, basically proving that counterprogramming works. "The Dark Knight" ended up winning a posthumous Oscar for Ledger and became the highest-grossing movie of the year, and "Mamma Mia!" was right behind it on the list, making over $600 million on a $52 million budget and earning a spot as one of the highest grossing films of 2008. So what are some other ones? Well, in 2003, "X2" hit theaters on the same day as "The Lizzie McGuire Movie," and it's pretty safe to assume that there wasn't a ton of overlap there. Other redditors cited "Eat, Pray, Love" and "The Expendables, which released on the same day in 2010, as well as "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Pitch Perfect 2," which came out on the same day in 2015.

There's no question that "Oppenheimer" is going to be a dark, difficult few hours focusing on the inherent darkness within humans and the fact that one man was able to create something as destructive as the atomic bomb. This doesn't sound like an uplifting time, but that's certainly not a bad thing — it's just important to note. So if you're already planning on catching "Oppenheimer" in theaters, why not make a real day out of it? 

It feels like the optimal way to pull off this double feature is to start with "Oppenheimer," a movie that seems guaranteed to make you reconsider everything you think you know about humanity. Kicking off your movie day with Cillian Murphy's portrayal of the deeply regretful inventor isn't exactly the most cheerful way to do it, but if you follow it up with the candy-coated party "Barbie" appears to be, you'll probably find yourself cheered up pretty quickly. These two movies are completely different, but they're also made by two filmmakers at the top of their game. Why not pair them together?

The other important thing to note here is that there's not really a "battle" between "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." As the Reddit post points out, the entire rationale behind releasing movies this different on the same day is to make sure the audiences for each don't face direct competition, ensuring that both clean up at the box office; this definitely worked for "Mamma Mia!" and "The Dark Knight," after all. "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" are both probably going to perform pretty well, as they're two of the most highly anticipated films set to come out this summer, and the people behind them are already celebrating their hopeful victories.

In the leadup to July 21, Gerwig and her main Barbie, Margot Robbie, bought tickets to "Oppenheimer" and posed for a photo op; "Mission Impossible" star Tom Cruise, who's unrelated to the two movies but whose latest Ethan Hunt exploit is coming out weeks before the other two, revealed he's seeing both in one day. If it helps to think these two movies are duking it out, fine — but they're really just working alongside each other to provide two completely different and likely great forms of entertainment. It's the summer of Barbenheimer, people. It's time to get on board, stop worrying, and learn how to love the bomb.