Matt Damon weighs in on the 'Oppenheimer' vs. 'Barbie' discourse (original) (raw)

“People are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend," says the actor, who plays Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves in Christopher Nolan's upcoming drama.

Published on May 23, 2023 01:50PM EDT

This Ken does not engage with silly internet feuds.

Matt Damon, star of the upcoming Christopher Nolan war drama Oppenheimer, will not be pitting the movie against Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie, both set to premiere in theaters July 21.

In fact, the Academy Award winner was not even aware of the internet discourse surrounding the two titles, centered on fans divided on which to see first or at all. "This is the first I'm hearing about it, actually," Damon told Vanity Fair. "I haven't paid any attention to that."

He has a simple solution, though, offering it with a laugh: "People are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend. Oppenheimer is one of them!" As for which movie his family would prefer to hit first (Damon shares four daughters with wife Luciana Barroso), Damon said, "I'll have to ask them that. If that's the case, they'll see two movies that weekend!"

Margot Robbie in 'Barbie,' Matt Damon in 'Oppenheimer'. Warner Bros; Universal

Damon portrays Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project at the center of the biographical drama. The film follows physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) as he works with a team of scientists to develop the atomic bomb during World War II. Like Barbie, it boasts a star-studded cast that includes Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Rami Malek.

Damon told Vanity Fair that Nolan ensured the film was historically accurate, having hired real scientists as extras, reproduced bomb tests sans CGI, and even filmed inside Manhattan Project buildings. "He's so exacting," Damon said. "There's been so much work before you get there, and you can feel it when you walk on [the set]. The level of detail is really exquisite."

Bombs are replaced with bombshells over at Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Dua Lipa, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu, and Ncuti Gatwa. Robbie portrays the central doll, who experiences an existential crisis in the candy-colored world of Barbie Land and decides to embark on a road trip to the Real World.

Oppenheimer and Barbie arrive in theaters July 21.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content: