The Barbenheimer Phenomenon Begins As Two Major Motion Pictures Greta Gerwig S Fantasy Comedy Barbie And Christopher Nolan S Epic Biographical Thriller Oppenheimer Are Released In Theaters On The Same Day And Audiences Instead Of Creating A Rivalry Between The Extremely Dissimilar Films Instead Attend And Praise Both As An Informal Surreal Double Feature - July 21 in History

Barbenheimer was a cultural phenomenon that preceded and surrounded the simultaneous theatrical release of two major studio films—Barbie by Warner Bros. Pictures and Oppenheimer by Universal Pictures—on July 21, 2023. The significant contrast between Barbie, a fantasy comedy directed by Greta Gerwig about the fashion doll Barbie, and Oppenheimer, a historical thriller directed by Christopher Nolan about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, sparked widespread online engagement. This included the creation of memes, merchandise, and themed content across social media.

Greta Celeste Gerwig is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. Initially known for working on various mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing major studio films. Gerwig was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2018.

Fantasy comedy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on, and parodies of, other works of fantasy.

Barbie is a 2023 fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she wrote with Noah Baumbach. Based on the fashion dolls by Mattel, it is the first live-action Barbie film after numerous animated films and specials. Starring Margot Robbie as the title character and Ryan Gosling as Ken, the film follows them on a journey of self-discovery through Barbieland and the real world following an existential crisis. The supporting cast includes America Ferrera, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.

Sir Christopher Edward Nolan is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Hollywood blockbusters with structurally complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. Nolan's films have earned over $6.6 billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing film director. His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two British Academy Film Awards. Nolan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019, and received a knighthood in 2024 for his contributions to film.

Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a heroic character. An epic's ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other genres such as the period piece or adventure film.

A biographical film or biopic is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and historical drama films in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a single person's life story or at least the most historically important years of their lives.

Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. Tension is created by delaying what the audience sees as inevitable, and is built through situations that are menacing or where escape seems impossible.

Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. It follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film dramatizes Oppenheimer's studies, his direction of the Los Alamos Laboratory and his 1954 security hearing. Cillian Murphy stars as Oppenheimer, alongside Robert Downey Jr. as the United States Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss. The ensemble supporting cast includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.

The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subject reels.

July 21 is the 202nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 163 days remain until the end of the year.

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