Matt Damon claims there’s no ‘Oppenheimer’/’Barbie’ rivalry, which is exactly what someone scared of losing would say

The box office battle of the summer is edging closer and closer, with audiences remaining torn between watching a star-studded epic from one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the modern age that ropes in an A-list ensemble to tell a sprawling story that puts the fate of the world in the balance, or Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

While Barbie and the Dark Knight director’s latest don’t seem as though they’d be in head-to-head competition, it’s become an either/or scenario for filmgoers around the world to decide which one they’re going to see first, or if they’re willing to stretch their time and money so far as seeing them both on the same day.

One person who doesn’t seem convinced there’s even a rivalry at all is Oppenheimer star Matt Damon, who claimed the loggerheads were non-existent when speaking to Vanity Fair, although that’s something a person destined to wind up on the losing side would say.

 “This is the first I’m hearing about it, actually. I haven’t paid any attention to that. People are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend. Oppenheimer is one of them!”

Yes, Matt, Oppenheimer is indeed one of them, but Barbie is the other. If Greta Gerwig’s candy-colored comedy manages to defeat Nola’s historical dramatic thriller, will it even really be a shock? After all, the buzz for both is steadily heading straight through the roof, and only one can emerge victorious at the end of the day. The only real question is who winds up standing tall.