Look Out for the ‘Barbieheimer’ Clash

Wide variety of films hitting the theaters and TV

By Lindsey Bahr AP Film Writer

The stakes are always high in the summer movie season.

But even in a schedule that has heavyweights like Indiana Jones, Ariel, Ethan Hunt and Dominic Toretto vying for box office supremacy, the biggest, funniest showdown is happening on July 21. On that fateful Friday, cinephiles will be faced with a difficult choice: Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” or Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie”?

The “Barbieheimer” showdown is, naturally, a bit silly. First, it’s entirely possible to see two new movies in one weekend. Second, while opening weekends are important, they’re also not everything. In 2008, “The Dark

Knight” debuted on the same weekend as “Mamma Mia!” and both went on to be major successes.

But it has inspired the kind of feverish, half-serious, halfjoking discourse online that no marketing can buy, with memes, jokes, bets and Highlander references galore every time either film drops a new advertisement. There were even a few hours in April when the internet panicked that the beach-off was canceled (it wasn’t). And before you go googling, the Highlander jokes are not about that film’s disastrous 1986 box office run, but instead the enduring “there can only be one” line.

The summer movie season always begins before actual summer. This year it kicks off on Friday with the release of Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and runs through Labor Day. Since “Jaws,” the summer season has been the most important for the moviemaking industry and typi-

Summer Movie Preview

cally accounts for around 40% of a year’s domestic box office, according to data from Comscore. Pre- pandemic, that usually meant more than $4 billion in ticket sales. Last year hit $3.4 billion.

But the industry is feeling optimistic. Last summer, only

22 films released on over 2,000 screens. This year there are 42, the same as in 2019, spanning every genre. And, it seems, every studio has re-prioritized theatrical releases over directto-streaming.

There are movies based on comic characters (“The Flash,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”), toys (“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”), racing games (“Gran Turismo”) and theme park rides (“Haunted Mansion”); Action adventures (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning”); Family friendly fare (“Elemental,” “Harold and the Purple Crayon”); Documentaries (“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” “Stephen Curry: Underrated”); And a starry Wes Anderson movie (“Asteroid City.”) (For a comprehensive guide to summer releases, visit: http://apne.ws/ vfZSaqF )

And it’s not just the superhero

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