Barbie: Margot Robbie starrer finally releases in Japan after Barbenheimer atomic bomb controversy

Barbie has been the biggest movie of this summer, racking in over $1 billion, making Greta Gerwig the first female director in history to achieve this landmark. Fans have made double and triple trips to go watch the movie in theaters again and again. But some people around the world they’re just finally getting the chance to book their tickets to Barbieland. The Margot Robbie starrer is finally released in Japan, after a huge controversy related to Barbenheimer memes. Here’s what happened.

Barbie releases in Japan after Barbenheimer controversy

Tickets for Babrie are flying off the shelf in Japan. The Greta Gerwig Directorial, fortunately, clashed with a national holiday in Japan that marks the start of the extended summer holiday week in the country, prompting many people to go out for a movie night. The viral trend of “Barbenheimer” stirred controversy in Japan, as the country had recently commemorated the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the now-deleted post on Twitter Warner Bros. marketing account for Barbie had started posting fan-made memes which showed Robbie alongside Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy merged with the images of nuclear explosions.

The outrage was so intense that at one point a petition was made on Change.org urging Warner Bros and Universal Pictures, the studio behind Oppenheimer, to stop using the #Barbenheimer on social media.During that period, #NoBarbenheimer gained traction in the East Asian country leading Warner’s Japan division to publicly criticize its U.S. counterpart, prompting the latter to issue an apology the following week.  Despite the controversy, Japanese fans of the film expressed that the situation did not deter them from wanting to watch the movie in theaters.

ALSO READ: Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy open to playing Ken in Barbie sequel; praises Barbenheimer

No Oppenheimer release date in sight

While fans were finally able to see Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s Barbie on the big screens, the same cannot be said for Christopher Nolan’s movie. No official release date for Oppenheimer has been made public in Japan. The Cillian Murphy starrer has faced criticism for its limited acknowledgment of the devastating impact of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, which resulted in the loss of over 200,000 lives.

Meanwhile, Barbie has taken over the world, quite literally, you can’t possibly scroll on social media for 2 minutes without coming across at least 1 post about the movie. 

ALSO READ: Why did Warner Bros apologize to Japanese division over Barbenheimer meme? Controversy EXPLAINED