Many people may remember the phenomenon of “Barbenheimer” that took place last summer. Since the Oscars are coming up in the month of March we will be doing a recap of both movies and seeing which one is going to be the favored pick of the year.
The phenomenon of Barbenheimer started when the news came out that the two most anticipated movies of the year would come out on the same day; July 21st. People compared and combined these two movies, even though they are seen as stark opposites when it came to genre and plot. On one hand you have Oppenheimer, a serious and cerebral movie about the creation of the atomic bomb by Robert J. Oppenheimer. On the other you have Barbie, which could be called its polar opposite, a movie that’s lighthearted and whimsical about the creation of Barbie and its purpose in the world. After these movies were released they were some of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year. This leads to the question of this article, “Which movie will be the frontrunner in regards to awards?”
Recently, the Golden Globes gave us a sneak peak of who the awards might favor. It was surprisingly one sided. Oppenheimer got five total awards out of eight nominations; their movie was widely celebrated and decorated in the end. The awards they won included: Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, Best Drama actor for Cillian Murphy, and Best Score for Ludwig Göransson. Their major takeaway outshined Barbie, which initially got the most nominations out of any movie. Their wins included Best Cinematic Movie and a newly appointed award called Box Office Achievement, which is in correlation to how much money the movie made. It specifically means that the eight nominees had all reached a total/gross of $150 million, of which $100 million must have come from the U.S domestic office, in this category Barbie won earning $636 million in North America and $1.4 billion worldwide. If the upcoming awards at the Oscars are going to be in any association with the Golden Globes, then it might be Oppenheimer that is solely favored again.
While it may be clear that Oppenheimer is the favored movie based on its success at the Golden Globes, it is always possible that Barbie could pull out as an unseen competitor in the end. While the nominations haven’t come out, it will be interesting to see if the nominations give audiences hope due to Barbie retaining more nominations than Oppenheimer at the Golden Globes. Even though the fallout at the Golden Globes ended up giving Oppenheimer more awards, the future is always uncertain.
