‘Oppenheimer’ Cost Half As Much As Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’

While “Barbenheimer” has launched a million memes over the past month, culminating in the release of both movies this weekend, the simultaneous critical, audience and box office success of both has raised larger question about the film and TV, and how IP is used in both.

One obvious point here is that these two films are succeeding in a way that is normally reserved for superhero, Star Wars or Avatar releases. The combined totals are the fourth best box office weekend in history.

It’s the budgets, however, that are the most interesting. In this age where everything feels bloated and unsustainable, it’s wild to see that something like Oppenheimer was made for $100 million in total. Barbie was $145 million.

Big numbers? Sure, but compare that to the $212 million that Marvel’s little-watched Secret Invasion miniseries on Disney Plus reportedly cost. Or combine the two figures and realize that it still cost less than Thor: Love and Thunders $250 million. Barbie just made more money this weekend that The Flash has made in its entire theatrical run to date.

There are jokes that with these kind of inflated budgets for movies and shows that do not look or feel like they’ve earned them, that the MCU must be some sort of money laundering scheme. That seems…unlikely, but I do wonder if this signifies the beginning of the end for superhero IP dominance. Disney has already said they’re scaling back their Plus Marvel series that have diluted the brand. DC is currently going through the painful death throes of the DCEU and it’s anyone’s guess what James Gunn’s new version looks like.

It now feels like we are far, far away from the bleak times of COVID lockdowns where the idea of movie theaters was supposedly not going to survive the pandemic, as can’t we all just watch the stuff at home? No, actually, people still do want to go to the movies if they’re good enough. Barbie is still a brand IP but Mattel let Greta Gerwig do whatever the hell she wanted with the script. Nolan is Nolan and the biggest proponent for huge theatrical events, and Oppenheimer more that proves his argument right.

There have been far too many superhero misses to count in just the last two years alone. Shazam, Black Adam, The Flash, Quantumania, Love and Thunder, Secret Invasion, compared to just a few hits. And not just critical misses, The Flash, for instance, is now one of the biggest bombs in the history of the medium. This feels like uh, a flashpoint for the superhero manufacturing industry.

I would like to see superhero budgets come down, relying more on their characters and storytelling than CGI slugfests which somehow, are starting to look much, much worse over time, in part due to the strain Marvel and DC have put on the overall CG industry.

Barbenheimer is not something that can be artificially replicated, but it does feel like a turning point for the movie industry, away from the pandemic, away from superheroes and Star Wars being the majority of box office hits. We’ll see if it lasts.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.