The Barbenheimer phenomenon has translated into box office gold for Margot Robbie, Cillian Murphy, and all others involved with the two projects. As well, it has sparked discourse about what the two releases with surprising thematic crossover mean for cinema, and, now, Francis Ford Coppola has weighed in on the ongoing discussion.
For those unaware, the director behind seminal works like The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Jack has never shied away from speaking his mind on the state of the theatrical industry in recent years. It is why he has feuded with Marvel and their output, made headlines for saying Deadpool is not that bad, and now the 84-year-old has announced via his Instagram handle (is it surprising he has one?) that Barbenheimer is a “victory for cinema,” even though he is yet to see both of them.
The man behind Twixt in 2011 shared the above while taking questions from the general public yesterday. While Nolan certainly would not do more with Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig has thrown cold water on the idea of a Barbie sequel, it is likely something will come of it given Warner Bros. Discovery’s desire for franchises and the fact Mattel wants to take many of their toys and turn them into sequel factories.
While Coppola did not address the possibility of both films spawning franchises of their own, he truly believes cinema is heading into a second golden age for artists.
What will come to pass and whether Coppola will actually watch Barbie and Oppenheimer remains to be seen. For now, he is working on Megalopolis for release next year, and, while several in the project’s crew have exited its set, Coppola has insisted in the past that all is well. It will make Shia LaBeouf look like a Greek goddess for some reason and is said to be about the rebuilding of a city after an epic disaster with a similarly epic scope.
Well, even though Megalopolis may take its sweet time to grace the theaters, at least it will be arriving at a time when cinema is done recovering from its state of crisis.
