It’s official, the highly anticipated “Barbie” movie will be screening in Egyptian cinemas starting July 19th, two days ahead of its global release on July 21.
Egyptian fans met the announcement with wild enthusiasm as they get to see Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” on the same day as a double feature, a trend globally referred to on social media as “Barbenheimer”.
The very online showdown between Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” all started with a date: July 21.
The two movies are currently listed on VOX Cinemas’ website and official Facebook page, to be released on July 19th.
The confirmation that ‘Barbie’ will be screening as scheduled in Egypt follows UAE’s decision to delay the film to August 31st. The cause of the delay is yet to be revealed.
While Barbie’s plot has remained hushed, Oppenheimer’s story follows the creator of the atomic bomb, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Both movies are complete opposites visually and tonally, which makes seeing them together a comical trend.
It’s not uncommon for studios to counter-program films in different genres on a big weekend, but the stark differences between an intense, serious-minded picture about the man who oversaw the development of the atomic bomb and a lighthearted, candy-colored anthropomorphizing of a childhood doll quickly became the stuff of viral fodder.
It’s worth noting that the Barbie movie has stirred some trouble, for instance, it is completely banned in Vietnam due to a map of the South China Sea featuring China’s nine-dash line.
The map indicates that China controls areas contested by Vietnam and other countries in Asia. The movie also caused controversy in the Philippines, but in the end, they decided to proceed with the release regardless.
