- Film And TV
- 26 Jul 23
Now I am become Barbie.
Cillian Murphy is open to taking "Barbenheimer" one step further.
The Irish actor, who plays the titular Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's newest three-hour biopic, was asked in an interview about whether he'd be open to playing a Ken in any upcoming Barbie sequel.
"Would I play a Ken in Barbie 2? Sure," he answered, laughing. "Let's read the script and let's have a conversation."
"Barbenheimer" is the internet-dubbed nickname for the recent films Barbie and Oppenheimer. In an interesting move from the studios, the Greta Gerwig doll comedy and Nolan's nuclear epic both released in cinemas on the same day.
In response, some fans showed their support for both films and decided to watch them both in a double feature, despite their wildly different tones and subject matters.
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The box office results were staggering. "Barbenheimer" (the combined weekend box office) opened to the fourth-biggest weekend in history, only behind massive Avengers films. Some Irish cinemas saw their busiest weekends ever, including Dublin's The Light House art-house cinema.
Murphy spoke about being excited about what that means for the future of cinema. "I think it's just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out on the same day," he told IGN. "You can spend the whole day in the cinema. What’s better than that?”
Oppenheimer and Barbie are both in theatres now.