Box Office Battle Royale: Barbie vs. Oppenheimer

Ever since the first trailer for Barbie dropped, anticipation for Greta Gerwig’s new movie starring Margot Robbie as the infamous ‘Barbie’ has continued to grow. This is in part thanks to the creative and marketing team behind Barbie, as the “Barbiecore” aesthetic seems to be taking over the world and there’s pink everywhere. 

But in addition to all the pink and glamor of Barbie, another highly-anticipated movie is coming to theaters…the same weekend as Barbie. Christopher Nolan’s latest movie, Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer is ready to make an impact. 

The two movies couldn’t appear to be more different, but Americans are excited to see both. In fact, fans dubbed the weekend ‘Barbenheimer’ weekend. ‘Barbenheimer’ is trending on social media, as moviegoers eagerly await opening weekend in the U.S.

Which will win the Box Office? We’ll have to wait and see. But between the two movies, is there one Americans are more excited to see? We conducted a Google search terms analysis to determine which of the two movies Americans in each state are more interested in. 

Barbie vs. Oppenheimer State by State

There’s a fairly even split of states excited about both movies, but Barbie does top Oppenheimer with 27 states excited about the adventures of Barbie and Ken, in comparison to the 23 states excited about Nolan’s latest film.

Both movies have stellar casts and directors. In addition to Murphy, Oppenheimer will star actors such as Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Jack Quaid, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Rami Malek, among many others. In addition to Barbie (Robbie), Barbie stars Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, and Issa Rae, with many others. Both movies have A-list casts, what are some of the other differences?

There’s an obvious difference in plot and themes. Barbie is about a Barbie doll that leaves the Barbie DreamHouse and ventures out into the “real world” with Ken. While Oppenheimer is about ‘The Manhattan Project,’  which was the development of the atomic bomb.  

Another stark difference is the run time. Barbie has a run time of 1 hour and 54 minutes, while Oppenheimer’s run time is 3 hours. For those adventuring to see both movies in one weekend, which will be seen first? 

With contrasting themes and styles, this cinematic clash invites audiences of all ages to explore the spectrum of storytelling, from the magical realms of childhood dreams to the intellectual depths of historical reflection. As movie buffs debate which film to choose, the box office eagerly awaits the verdict of these highly-anticipated summer blockbusters.  

Methodology

We analyzed 108 Google search terms relating to the Barbie and Oppenheimer movies. For state-level data, we looked at search volume per capita averages over the past 3 months. 

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