On Sunday, I participated in the most talked about double feature in movie history: Barbienheimer. I don't think any movies have ever gotten this much free publicity as "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" have gotten purely based on their release date. It has been a phenomenon I have loved to watch. These are two of the biggest movies of 2023, and when the release date was announced, "Barbenheimer" was born.

I think there are a few reasons why these two movies have captivated the movie world. The biggest is that two big movies rarely, if ever, open on the same weekend in a very long time. There seems to be an unwritten rule that one big movie gets released per week. The opening weekend of a movie is when it will make the most money. Typically there is a 30-60 percent drop in the second week. This "rule" allows that movie to make money without any competition in its first week. This past weekend was an oddity.

The other big reason this was such an event was that, on its face, a movie about Barbie and the atomic bomb seems about as different as you can get. The idea that these two were coming out on the same weekend was weird. The stark differences between the subject matter were enough for me to consider pulling off this double feature.

These two movies made over $240 million combined this past weekend ("Barbie" had the bigger opening at $162 million). A few weeks ago, AMC theaters said that over 20,000 Stubs A-List subscription service members had preordered their tickets for both movies on the same day.

My double feature started at the Regal with "Barbie." Many people there for the movie were decked out in pink; you don't get people dressing up for anything but well-known comic books or sci-fi movies. One of my friends who was doing Barbeheimer with me went as Oppenheimer Barbie (suit coat and pants with a fedora (Oppenheimer) with a scarf and pastel shirt (Barbie)). I bought a shirt to commemorate the occasion (pictured above). After "Barbie," we went to a bar and debriefed before walking to North Park Theater for the three-hour "Oppenheimer." Both movies were fantastic (reviews of each will be coming at a later date), and all in all, the experience was incredible.

As my friend and I walked back to my house, still basking in the glow of this incredible double feature, I realized that next weekend the big movie would be "The Haunted Mansion." I have nothing against that movie, but the thought of seeing it was a little depressing. I feel like my movie-going peaked with "Barbenheimer."