mission: barbenheimer

Tom Cruise Endorses Your Barbie and Oppenheimer Double Feature

“It doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink)”
Tom Cruise Endorses Your ‘Barbie and ‘Oppenheimer Double Feature
Han Myung-Gu

When Steven Spielberg proclaimed that Tom Cruise “saved Hollywood’s ass” with the unequivocal box office success of Top Gun: Maverick at last year’s Oscar nominees luncheon, Cruise took that to heart—and made it his mission to support the theatrical box office business for years to come.

Consider the opening bell on summer movie season rung. On Wednesday, Cruise shared photos of himself holding movie tickets for various big-screen titles alongside the following message: “This summer is full of amazing movies to see in theaters. Congratulations, Harrison Ford, on 40 years of Indy and one of the most iconic characters in history.” Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth installment in the blockbuster franchise, hits theaters on June 30.

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Cruise then acknowledged the two tentpoles that have become inextricably linked thanks to their shared release date—Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy. “I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than one with Oppenheimer and Barbie,” he said of the films, both of which debut on July 21.

He’s not the only A-lister to weigh in on the battle of atomic bomb versus arched foot. Matt Damon, who stars in Oppenheimer as General Leslie Groves, director of the top-secret Manhattan Project who appointed Oppenheimer as developer of nuclear weapons, also supports back-to-back viewing with Barbie. “People are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend. Oppenheimer is one of them!” he said with a laugh when asked about its box office competition by Vanity Fair at the Air premiere. But he admits his daughters may opt to see Barbie instead. “I’ll have to ask them that,” Damon said. If that’s the case, they’ll see two movies that weekend!”

Cruise’s own summer blockbuster, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is set to fly into theaters smack-dab in the middle of summer movie season, on July 12.