Two years ago today, Barbie and Oppenheimer hit theaters with the force of a nuclear bomb and the color of an exploding pinata. The incongruity of the pairing ensured that Warner Bros. and Universal’s counterprogramming gambit became a meme long before directors Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan had completed their films. Until they were actually in theaters, though, it was unclear whether the internet’s obsession would translate to IRL fervor.
Fortunately for everyone it did, to the tune of $2.4 billion in worldwide grosses. Barbie made the lion’s share, with a $1.447 billion finish, making it the number one movie of the year. But, given that it was a three hour-long historical drama shot partially in black-and-white, Oppenheimer arguably pulled off the more impressive feat, with its $975.8 million gross.
The Super Mario Bros. Movielanded in the middle, with $1.36 billion.
Barbenheimer was hailed, in the moment, as a rare cinematic event that catapulted movies back to the center of the culture after decades spent losing ground to TV, social media, and streaming services. After 15 years of superheroes dominating the box office, Barbenheimer also showed that two very different movies could capture audiences' imaginations.
But how much did Barbenheimer actually change? In what ways is the Hollywood landscape different in 2025 than it was on July 21, 2025, the eve of the double feature’s release? Have things improved? Gotten worse? And have we seen the full extent of the changes Barbenheimer will bring about? Is there more on the horizon?
The Fall Of Superheroes
In both2022and2023, no superhero movies made it to the top three in the worldwide box office — marking the first time capes were entirely absent (barring the bizarro first year of COVID) since2011.Deadpool & Wolverineprovided a sign of life for the genre in2024, nabbing the number two spot at the global box office. But, in 2025, it seems we’re reverting to the trend ‘22 and ‘23 established. At this point,Supermandoesn’t seem to have much chance of beating out the established top three.Fantastic Four: First Stepsis the genre’s last chance to see the year through.
We’re in a new era, and Barbenheimer helped usher it in. Superhero movies can still find breakout success, but they’re no longer the sure thing they were when a movie as mediocre as Captain Marvel could clear a billion dollars on the strength of its connection to the Avengers. From 2022 onward, it has been much more likely for a superhero sequel to makelessthan its predecessor than it is for it to makemore.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Captain America: Brave New World
Barbenheimer showed that unlikely movies could top the box office. Both were adaptations — Barbie based on the doll, Oppenheimer based on the nonfiction book, American Prometheus — but they weren’t new entries in existing cinematic franchises. In this IP-saturated era, that constitutes a risk, and their success proved that Hollywood needed to broaden its horizons beyond comic books.
Toy Movies Are In. Or Are They?
Barbie’s success spurred a lot of talk about movies based on toys, with many viewers worried that Hollywood had found a new IP to stripmine, and one with much less artistic merit than superhero comics.A Lena Dunham-helmed Polly Pocket movie was in the works, as was a J.J. Abrams Hot Wheels film. Further adaptations were reportedly in the works based on Monopoly (with Barbie’s Margot Robbie set to produce), Major Matt Mason, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Uno, and more.
Dunham has since left Polly Pocket, and none of the others have yet come to fruition — thoughWicked’s Jon M. Chu is now attached to Hot Wheels. It turns out, 2023 was the year that Hollywood found its new IP muse, but that was thanks to the success of Mario, not Barbie. Since then, we’ve seen successful films based onMinecraft,Five Nights at Freddy’s, andUntil Dawn.
That last one might come as a surprise, but in spite of terrible reviews and a weak opening weekend, theUntil Dawn movie managed to make more than three times its budget back.
Many more video game movies are in the works, with FNAF and Mortal Kombat sequels arriving later this year, a Mario sequel next year, andSonic 4and a live-actionZeldafilm slated for 2027. So, while we’re seeing adaptations of products that plenty of kids would be happy to see under their Christmas tree, toy movies aren’t the hot ticket they seemed to be.
Wait… Women Watch Movies?
So, if Barbie wasn’t a success because people love toys, why did it break out in such a big way? Well, it certainly helped that it was one of the first big-budget Hollywood movies primarily aimed at women - though not exclusively - in a long time. If we look at the ten highest-grossing movies of the preceding decade, the only movies to show up that fit that criteria are The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Maleficent, and the two Frozen movies. All of those are Disney movies that are rated PG-13 or lower, so it may be more accurate to say they’re aimed at children.
When Hollywood makes movies that squarely target adult women, they can be big successes, too. Fifty Shades of Grey was right outside the top ten for 2015, with a worldwide take of nearly $570 million. Last year, Wicked and It Ends with Us were both big hits. Though it wasn’t a blockbuster, Keke Palmer and SZA’s comedy One of Them Days was a mid-budget success, raking in more than 4x its cost. Hollywood is still primarily targeting men and children, but Barbie showed that when women have something worthwhile to see, they’ll support the hell out of it.
Titanic, after all, remains the fourth-highest-grossing movie of all-time.
The Rise Of Premium Formats
Last week,tickets went on sale for Christopher Nolan’s first movie since Oppenheimer, his big-budget adaptation of The Odyssey, starring Matt Damon and Tom Holland. That was interesting timing because The Odyssey doesn’t open until July of 2026. Nolan and distributor Universal are betting that, by opening presales for 70mm IMAX screenings early, they can fan the flames of the fervor for large-format theatrical screenings that Oppenheimer kindled.
Given that all the tickets have sold out already, the appetite is there (though where fans end and scalpers begin is another question entirely). But this isn’t news, not really. Earlier this year,a video from Kodak of Ryan Coogler breaking down the various film and digital formats fans could watch Sinners on went viral, with more than 16 million views on Twitter (and 754,000 more on YouTube). As a lifelong movie lover, I can never recall a moment when the general public has been this tuned into the technical aspects of film.
The closest example I can recall is fan interest in The Lord of the Rings extended editions’ special features. Even then, interest in the making of a movie is pretty different from interest in how it’s shown.
Nolan isn’t the only director pushing the conversation around film in this direction. In the quest to make the theatrical experience feel as distinct as possible from at-home viewings, filmmakers like Coogler, James Cameron, Denis Villeneuve, and Jordan Peele have emphasized the importance of seeing their films on the biggest screens possible. Nolan is undoubtedly at the vanguard of that conversation.
So, What Did Barbenheimer Mean?
Barbenheimer showed that audiences were ready for something new; that the 2020s wouldn’t follow the 2010s in being defined by superheroes; that Hollywood was not putting in the work required to reach women in a meaningful way; and that the size and quality of sound the theatrical experience provided could get people to leave their houses, even in the streaming era.
It didn’t show that toys or historical biopics were the next big thing. If anything, it showed that there was no singular next big thing. Going forward, anything can be a hit and anything can be a flop. There is no surefire formula, no genre that will always work or will never work. That’s scary if you’re a studio exec, but it should be encouraging for the rest of us. When nothing is guaranteed, everything is a risk. And I’d rather see a risky movie than a safe bet any day.
