From blockbusters to besties to Best Picture nominees: Lessons learned from 'Barbenheimer'

He's now their established genius, their cinema god, and to them, "Oppenheimer" is his crowning achievement.

To that end, Sunday's Oscars will be his coronation ceremony, and he's a shoo-in for the Best Director prize, his first, and "Oppenheimer" will be his first Best Picture winner.

Nolan balances commercial and artistic credibility as deftly as anyone in Hollywood, and he's locked arm-in-arm with "Dune's" Denis Villeneuve as today's foremost creator of austere blockbusters.

The fact that Nolan turned "Oppenheimer," a three-hour dialogue-driven biopic about the creator of the atomic bomb, into a worldwide blockbuster is the ultimate flex of his muscle. What will he take on next?

—Movies still matter

Outside of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, "Barbenheimer" was the pop culture event of 2023, an example of Hollywood's power when it's operating at full strength.

The rise of comic book and superhero movies over the last decade and change has been alienating to those who long for a different type of big screen entertainment, and coupled with the setback of the COVID-19 pandemic, movies have had a rough go in recent years.

But "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" reversed course and showed the power and possibility of blockbuster filmmaking outside the superhero, action-adventure realm. And audiences responded. If you build it, they will come.

—Movie theaters still matter

"Barbenheimer" was a theatrical sensation, meaning that people, in 2023, had to leave their houses to experience it, in movie theaters, with strangers, in a communal environment.

That's after years of streaming platforms piling up, theatrical release windows shortening, movie theaters closing, social media rising, and a thousand other reasons to stay indoors and let the world come to you.

But people don't necessarily want that, at least not all the time. They want to go out and dress up and pay for the popcorn and oversized soda, and laugh (in the case of "Barbie") or not laugh (in the case of "Oppenheimer") inside movie theaters, which is where the two movies played exclusively for months.

Eventually they both came to streaming platforms and can now be seen from the comfort of your couch. But last summer, in order to see them and participate in the cultural conversation, you had to leave your house to do it, and millions participated in the ritual to feel a part of something bigger than themselves. And it felt great.

—Events can happen on their own

"Barbenheimer" wasn't created in a boardroom or dreamt up as a dual phenomenon. It became one organically, largely on the internet, and that's where it lived, and became a meme, before the two movies hit theaters.

That created a need to want to participate with it, which was better marketing that any studio could buy.

The internet is the most powerful tool we have, and it can giveth just as much as it can taketh away.

Had either movie not lived up to the hype, the bad buzz would have killed them. (Remember "Snakes on a Plane?") But "Barbenheimer" delivered, and the internet kept it alive and kept it cool.

—There might not be another 'Barbenheimer,' and that's fine

Two films, both alike in dignity, in fair Hollywood, where we lay our scene.

Both open the same summer's day, become elemental to their directors' careers, create a worldwide sensation and are each nominated for Best Picture to boot?

That kind of thing cannot be manufactured, and isn't likely to be recreated anytime soon. And that's fine.

Hollywood doesn't need another "Barbenheimer," it needs to apply the lessons it taught and apply them going forward, so that the post-"Barbenheimer" world is a fresher, happier, smarter world for both filmmakers and moviegoers alike.

Make better movies. Trust filmmakers. Take audiences on a ride. And don't chase the next "Barbenheimer." Instead, find the next big event, or events, that will inspire tomorrow's "Barbie" or "Oppenheimer" to come along and shake things up anew. Hollywood loves a sequel, but "Barbenheimer 2" will have to come on its own.

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The 96th Academy Awards begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Sunday on ABC.

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