Hollywood is going through a rough time. Highly anticipated movies are flopping. Budget cuts and mass layoffs plagued even the largest companies this year. And a historic, dual strike doesn't have an end date in sight.
The industry could use a win right now. And the release of the "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" movies on the same weekend (a phenomenon called "Barbenheimer") might just be its answer.
"While there are some signs of life for the theaters this year, Hollywood really needs 'Barbenheimer' to work, since so much attention and promotion have been poured into both films, and it comes amid a historic strike situation," said Insider's entertainment business correspondent Reed Alexander.
"Barbie" is also representative of a growing trend in Hollywood: Brand-centric films. It's a perfect advertising hack for companies vying to reach ad-avoidant customers.
So if Barbenheimer soars — the films' combined opening weekend box offices could bring in more than $200 million — here are a few possible reverberations:
- Hollywood executives could make the case that the strike is ineffective. Box office wins could give them ammunition to say audiences are still coming and the industry isn't suffering any real damage from the strike.
- The unions could leverage box-office success against the executives. "Nobody should have false expectations that success for Barbenheimer means that everybody's getting wealthy together — that's actually what the strike is about," Alexander said. Success could give unions the power to say: You just made a lot of money. Now, pay us.
- It might not impact the strike at all. Actors and writers are striking over long-standing issues like pay and AI in the industry. One successful weekend at the box office won't cure their deeply entrenched differences.
But if the two movies flop (rest assured: analyst predictions and early numbers suggest otherwise), it would place a glaring spotlight on the threat that streaming services like Netflix have posed to the movies.
Regardless of the outcome, all eyes will likely continue watching the industry in flux.
"A successful weekend at the box office could suggest to people: yes, the industry is going through growing pains," Alexander said. "But no, it's not existential. And the industry will survive."