Barbie vs. Oppenheimer is the biggest box office clash witnessed by the audience in recent years. As the two big movies hit theatres on July 21, let’s look back at other similar clashes.
It seems like history is being repeated. 15 years ago, Christopher Nolan’s classic The Dark Knight hit theatres on July 18, 2008, the same day, Meryl Streep’s musical drama Mumma Mia hit theatres. Much like Barbenheimer, Nolan’s Dark Night was dark, and Meryl’s Mumma Mia was joyfully filled with colours.
If you are a movie buff, you must be aware of these two cult classic movies: Jaws 2 and Grease. But did you know that these two films were released on the same day? Directed by Jeannot Szwarc, the horror thriller and Randal Kleiser’s romantic drama were released on June 16, 1978.
On June 16, 1993, two films of totally different genres were released on the same day: the family drama Free Willy and the Halloween classic movie Hocus Pocus. At the time of release, Free Willy was a commercial success, while Hocus Pocus tanked. However, during the Halloween season that year, Hocus Pocus became the audience’s favourite.
The adventure film Jumanji, which is still everyone’s favourite, was released in 1995 and had a faceoff with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s crime thriller Heat. Both movies were commercially successful.
Keanu Reeves starrer The Matrix and the romantic comedy Ten Things I Hate About You had a big clash at the box office. The two totally different films were released on March 31, 1999. Reeves’ Matrix was a blockbuster hit, while Heath Ledger’s movie too had a decent box office collection.