Since the simultaneous debut of Barbie and Oppenheimer, studios have been heavily incentivized to recreate the phenomena of “barbenheimner”. What started off as an internet meme has now turned into one of the most successful double features the box office has ever seen. As of now, Barbie has produced $1.3 billion dollars in revenue at the box office and Oppenheimer is hitting $800 million. Oppenheimer is currently becoming the fifth highest grossing R-rated movie of all time while Barbie is becoming Warner bros highest grossing film of all time. The previous record holder was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which was released almost 12 years ago.

These companies haven’t seen this kind of money in over a decade. The issue with trying to recreate the Barbenheimer effect is studios are not understanding what made it so culturally gripping. These two films are heavily contradicting but also have incredible similarities, which is what made the release of them so interesting. Barbie and Oppenheimer have endless similarities; both movies explore the philosophy of existentialism. One film is about a doll who gives us the tools to express ourselves versus a film about a man who gave us the tools to destroy ourselves. 

Lionsgate has announced the release date of Saw X and Paw Patrol to be on the same date. Studios have misinterpreted what audiences want: originality. This new double feature has been forced upon us by film studios desperately trying to recreate barbenheimer. This will never work because the truth is that no one wants to see these movies. Not only did social media have a huge social influence on getting people to watch the double feature but also because they are critically acclaimed films.  The social incentive to go out and watch the double feature had a huge impact on the success of both films.