Martin Scorsese Says ‘Barbenheimer’ Offers ‘Hope for a Different Cinema to Emerge’ From Studios; Defends ‘Flower Moon’ Three-Hour Plus Runtime: ‘Give Cinema Some Respect’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Martin Scorsese has not seen Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” or Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” but that didn’t stop him from celebrating the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon during a recent interview with the Hindustan Times.

Scorsese himself has ties to “Barbie,” as it stars and was produced by his “Wolf of Wall Street” breakout Margot Robbie and shot by his longtime cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto.

The latter filmed “Barbie” after wrapping up work on Scorsese’s own “Killers of the Flower Moon.” “I do think that the combination of ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ was something special,” Scorsese said. “It seemed to be, I hate that word, but the perfect storm.

It came about at the right time. And the most important thing is that people went to watch these in a theater. And I think that’s wonderful.” “Barbie” grossed $1.4 billion to become Warner Bros.’ top box office earner in history. “Oppenheimer” was also a massive hit for Universal with $939 million worldwide, an unheard of sum for a three-hour, R-rated biographical drama.