Los Angeles movie fans hit the multiplexes for ‘Barbenheimer’

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Film fans headed to cinemas in Los Angeles for early screenings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” a doubleheader being billed as “Barbenheimer”.

At the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, some movie-goers were fully getting into the global “Barbenheimer” craze, with plans to see both films on the same day.

“I bought my tickets months ago as soon as they were available,” 25-year-old Joey Litvak said as he walked to an “Oppenheimer” screening on Thursday.

“I’m seeing Barbie… right after. Barbenheimer.”

Both films open on Friday, a simultaneous release dubbed “Barbenheimer”, but could not be more different.

“Barbie” stars Margot Robbie as the Mattel doll, who is living her idyllic life in Barbie World until one day, she starts having dark thoughts and flat feet.

“Oppenheimer”, from acclaimed director Christopher Nolan, stars Cillian Murphy as U.S. physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II

Film fan Christian Cage, 45, said he planned to see both films before heading to work later at night.

“I’m going to be exhausted but it’s a really hot day here in LA so there’s no better place to be than a nice air conditioned room watching movies all day,” he said.

Many of the fans coming to see “Barbie” dressed up in pink and posed for pictures in a makeshift Barbie toy box.

“I love it, it’s like the only toy I used to play when I was a girl,” Claudia Ripper, 39, who came to see “Barbie” with her daughter, said.

“I used to dress them and do their hair… Barbie was my thing. So obviously now I have a daughter, I want to see it with her… I love Barbie.”

“Barbie” is expected to rake in more than $100 million in U.S. theaters in its first weekend, while “Oppenheimer” is projected to bring in $50 million.