One’s a comedy, the other’s a high-octane drama, but that hasn’t stopped cinema-goers from snapping up tickets to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer when they’re released on the same day later this month.

According to AMC, an American chain of cinemas, 20,000 double-booking tickets to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer have been snapped up so far, ahead of both films’ release date of July 21. In the space of four days over the weekend, the cinema chain experienced a 33% increase in the number of guests booking tickets to see both films.

Barbie, which features Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, has been written and directed by Greta Gerwig, the brains behind the recent adaptation of Little Women and Oscar-nominated Lady Bird. It’s been estimated that the film, which also features Dua Lipa, America Ferrera and Issa Rae, will have a $100 million opening weekend in terms of ticket sales.

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Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling attending the LA premiere of ’Barbie’ earlier this month.

Christopher Nolan-directed Oppenheimer centres on the theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, who was known for having helped developed the atomic bomb. The film, which is Nolan’s longest to date at 180 minutes, has a star-packed cast which features Florence Pugh, Cillian Murphy and Rami Malek.

The internet has been flooded with 'Barbieheimer' memes since their joint release date was revealed, with users joking about starting the day with a trip to see Oppenheimer before dipping in to see Barbie as a palette-cleanser.

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Naomi May
Digital Editor

Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.