It’s B-Movie Barbie! Survivors of this summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon will get the chance to catch a feature-length film nominally inspired by the dual July premiere weekend of Greta Gerwig’s Mattel toy reimagining Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s explosive biopic Oppenheimer.
Barbenheimer, from prolific low-budget filmmaker and Puppet Master series creator Charles Band, will focus on Dr. Bambi J. Barbenheimer, a scientist doll living in Dolltopia with her boyfriend Twink Dollman, who becomes disillusioned with humans’ treatment of dolls and decides to build a giant nuclear bomb to destroy the real world. Fittingly, the synopsis reads: “They got great looks and a super attitude! Oh, and now they’ve got the bomb.”
Despite the apocalyptic stakes, Barbenheimer will actually try to add some levity to a box office that’s taken itself too seriously lately, according to Band. “It’s so silly,” the director told The Hollywood Reporter. “But it seems like every other feature is dark and depressing, and it’s like, God, we need a little humor going into 2024.”
“It’s also an opportunity to have fun with the bizarre coupling of these two movies and the combination of Barbie’s vibe and the darkness of Oppenheimer. You mix that together and you have such an opportunity for dark humor,” Band continued. “Everyone around the world is having fun with [the ‘Barbenheimer’] notion, so we should actually make it.”
The project has not yet begun filming and no announcements have been made regarding casting, but it does have a script featuring several musical numbers written by Ninja Sex Party’s Brian Wecht. Its budget is projected at just below $1 million, making it one of the most expensive films by Band out of his nearly 400 total.
Although “Barbenheimer” became a colloquial term this summer, the combination of the two films hasn’t always been without its bumps: in August, Barbie’s host studio Warner Bros. issued an apology to Japan over an insensitive tweet playing up the fad.
