Margot Robbie says Oppenheimer producer asked her to move Barbie release date

Thank a headstrong Margot Robbie for Barbenheimer, the cultural phenomenon centered on Barbie and Oppenheimer's dual theatrical release.

The star and producer of Greta Gerwig's summer blockbuster revealed that a producer for Oppenheimer called her up and tried to sway her to move the film's July 21 release, but she refused to fold — as did the Oppenheimer producer, making way for the cinematic event of the summer.

Robbie shared as much in Variety's latest Actors on Actors, where she was aptly teamed up with Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy for a discussion about their respective films.

"One of your producers, Chuck Roven, called me, because we worked together on some other projects. And he was like, 'I think you guys should move your date,'" Robbie recalled. "And I was like, 'We’re not moving our date. If you’re scared to be up against us, then you move your date.' And he’s like, 'We’re not moving our date. I just think it’d be better for you to move.' And I was like, 'We’re not moving!'"

"I think this is a really great pairing, actually. It’s a perfect double billing, Oppenheimer and Barbie."

Murphy replied, "That was a good instinct."

"Clearly the world agreed," Robbie said. "Thank God. The fact that people were going and being like, “Oh, watch Oppenheimer first, then Barbie.' I was like, 'See? People like everything.' People are weird."

"Christopher Nolan was always determined that it would be released in the summer as a big tentpole movie," Murphy said elsewhere of the release date. "That was always his plan. And he has this superstition around that date, the 21st."

The stars also marveled at the Barbenheimer fan art that took the internet by storm. "People are so clever," Robbie said. "People kept asking me, 'So is each marketing department talking to each other?' And I was like, 'No, this is the world doing this! This is not a part of the marketing campaign.'”

"I think it happened because both movies were good," Murphy offered. "In fact, that summer, there was a huge diversity of stuff in the cinema, and I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted."

Barbie centers on Robbie's titular doll as she, amidst an existential crisis and the arrival of cellulite on her thighs, embarks on a journey to the real world for answers. Oppenheimer stars Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist behind the atomic bomb. Both are available to stream on digital now.

Watch Robbie and Murphy's discussion in full above.

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:

• Is Barbieheimer actually the perfect double feature? EW's verdict on the summer's biggest meme
• Barbie review: Welcome to Greta Gerwig's fiercely funny, feminist Dreamhouse
• Oppenheimer review: Christopher Nolan's powerful, timely masterpiece deserves the biggest screens