Margot Robbie rightly stood her ground as a producer on this summer’s bright-pink blockbuster. During a new interview featuring the titular star of Greta Gerwig’sBarbieandOppenheimer’sown Cillian Murphy, Robbie revealed that she was actually phoned by one of the producers of Christopher Nolan’s historical drama. And he wanted Robbie to change the Mattel adaptation’s theatrical release date. Robbie wasn’t having it, as she revealed to Murphy on Variety’s latest installment ofActors on Actors. Robbie said:
“One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects. And he was like, ‘I think you guys should move your date. And I was like, ‘We’re not moving our date. If you’re scared to be up against us, then you move your date.’ And he’s like, ‘We’re not moving our date. I just think it’d be better for you to move.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving!'”
Robbie went on to tell Roven thatBarbieandOppenheimerwere the perfect double-feature opportunity. Robbie’s instincts were right on the money — the billion-dollar, life-changing amount for that matter.Barbieand Oppenheimer both opened on Friday, June 23, 2025. And whileOppenheimerwas quite successful,Barbietorched its nuclear competition at the box office. So, Robbie standing up to Roven’s insolent request resulted inBarbie’svictory overOppeheimerin theaters.
Related:Barbie: 10 Actors Almost Cast in the Film
Barbie’s Margot Robbie Didn’t Back Down
TheMargot Robbie-ledBarbieended up dropping its own bomb onOppenheimerin a head-to-head battle for box office boffo. Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the famous Mattel doll made a record-setting $1.44 billion worldwide, while Christopher Nolan’s movie made an impressive $950.7 million globally. And out of their double-feature success in cinemas,the unprecedentedBarbenheimerphenomenonwas also born.
During their discussion, Cillian Murphy praised Robbie for sticking to her instincts to not budge onBarbieopening in theaters on the exact same day asOppenheimer. Murphy also revealed that Nolan has a “superstition” when it comes to releasing his movies, and the filmmaker always shoots for July 21 or a date near to it. While recent Nolan projects likeTenet(August 12) andInterstellar(October 26) missed the mark,Dunkirk(July 21),Inception(July 13),The Dark Knight Rises(July 20),The Dark Knight(July 18) all saved the date or came very close to it. Robbie said during the same interview:
I mean, it’s a good date.
Murphy added as he reflected on the success of both his and Robbie’s most recent cinematic triumphs:
It’s a good day… it is now.
Barbiedrops December 15 on Maxfor fans to stream or binge-watch Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s bright-pink adventures in Barbieland. Meanwhile, Cillian Murphy’s brilliant performance inOppenheimercan be seen on digital or via VOD. And Christopher Nolan’s historical drama seems destined for a 2024 release date on Peacock, at the time of this writing.
