Mark Your Calendars: Barbenheimer's 2024 Successor Will Be Even Bigger, Hotter & Furrier
The "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" double feature, lovingly dubbed "Barbenheimer" by fans on social media, is shaping up to be the cinematic event of the summer — and perhaps even the entire year. As exciting as it is, its passing begs the question of whether this blockbuster phenomenon will be a one-in-a-lifetime party (ostensibly fueled by pink cocktails and cigarettes) or the harbinger of an annual tradition — one that could give a much-needed boost to the ailing post-pandemic theater industry.
As movie lovers ourselves, we're certainly rooting for the latter outcome, even if the probability of two high-profile movies releasing on the same day in the summer blockbuster season is sadly low. Thankfully, looking ahead to next year's summer film slate, there's already a clear successor to the absurd back-to-back experience of "Barbenheimer." Allow us to introduce for the first time as an unholy cinematic couple, George Miller's "Furiosa" and Sony Pictures Animation's "Garfield" — or, as we shall soon call them, "Garfuriosa."
George Miller's Furiosa will be every bit as buzzy as Oppenheimer or Barbie
Releasing at the start of the summer blockbuster season on May 24, 2024, "Garfield" and "Furiosa" could become unlikely vessels for the same energy attracted by "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." The latter is arguably more tangible as a prestige summer offering, given that it's a stand-alone prequel to George Miller's 2015 post-apocalyptic epic, "Mad Max: Fury Road." Despite underperforming at the box office, the Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron starrer was instantly hailed as a masterpiece by critics and fans alike and has since been counted among the greatest action films ever made.
It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, ultimately winning six. "Furiosa" sees Miller returning to the director's chair after 2022's "Three Thousand Years of Longing," reunited with fellow "Fury Road" scribe Nico Lathouris. The cast is absolutely stacked as well, with Anya Taylor-Joy playing a younger version of the titular heroine opposite Chris Hemsworth as a villainous biker warlord known as Dementus.
Garfield has all the makings of a sleeper hit
The cast of Sony's "Garfield" is equally staggering, including Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, and Ving Rhames, along with "Saturday Night Live" alums Cecily Strong and Bowen Yang, and "Ted Lasso” breakouts Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein. Who, you might ask, is playing the iconic lasagna-loving house cat? Why, Chris Pratt, of course. He's so cool.
Aside from the admittedly suspicious A-List cast and the obvious potential for this to spiral into a "Minions"-level meme-movie, there's actually a decent chance that "Garfield" could turn out to be a great film. For starters, the inclusion of talented comedic actors and writers in the cast is genuinely promising, especially under the care of director Mark Dindal and screenwriter David Reynolds. The two are most notably responsible for "The Emperor's New Groove," a black sheep in the Walt Disney animated catalog that stands out to this day for its sharply irreverent comedic sensibilities and its attempts at innovating the Disney formula.
It also doesn't hurt that the project is being produced at Sony Pictures Animation, the studio arguably responsible (at least in large part) for the modern, post-"Spider-Verse" mainstream animation renaissance. Its recent achievements have raised the bar for what audiences can expect from animated features stylistically, leading to films like "The Mitchells vs. The Machines," "The Bad Guys," and "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish."
Is it absolutely necessary that "Garfield" and "Furiosa" be brought together by moviegoers under the jubilant banner "Garfuriosa: The Fast and the Furriest?" No, it is not. But it sure would be nice, wouldn't it?
Barbenheimer is an important moment for cinema – we can't let it be an anomaly
"Barbenheimer" has been one of the brightest spots of the 2023 cinema landscape, not because it promised the joint release of two highly-anticipated films from two of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, but because it offered a unifying reprieve from the nastiness that is film discourse, especially online. On social media, it can feel as though nothing can exist without comparison — Marvel versus DC; awards season favorites versus indie films; blockbusters versus "real" cinema; movies versus films.
Yet, amidst this conflict, what seemed to be a bright-pink, all-ages corporate cash grab, and a gritty, self-important historical drama were instantly brought together to create something better than the sum of their parts. Alone, they are works of art — impressive feathers in caps already full of them. Together, they represent what the collective theater-going experience can be: the baffling paradox that you could feel the same amount of catharsis witnessing the creation of the most devastating weapon known to man or the story of a plastic toy escaping her fantastical confines.
It evokes a time before an "event film" meant multiverses — before the audience entered the theater with a percentage score in their head pre-determining the movie's supposed quality. The spirit of the "Barbenheimer" double feature is one of surprise, totality, and pure, uncynical joy. It is profound change and utter pointlessness, made meaningful only by our illogical willingness to take that leap of faith into that empire of light to find some truth in the little lies of fiction. It is cinema.
Is this all too good to be true?
Unfortunately, it's incredibly likely that "Garfuriosa" will never come to pass. Even under the most normal of circumstances, summer release dates often shift by weeks or even months. Seeing as how neither "Furiosa" nor "Garfield" have begun their respective press pushes in earnest, it wouldn't be all that surprising for one to scare the other off as public anticipation for either film grows naturally over the next year.
Then, there's the little matter of the 2023 Writers Guild of American strike, which shows no signs of stopping as of writing and will almost definitely continue to affect the 2024 studio calendar. Though their return to work is dependent on the AMPTP offering them fair contracts, the absence of writers will cause both films to face roadblocks if additional dialogue is needed for reshoots or post-production ADR.
On the bright side, there are at least three candidates for wonderfully weird double features in the coming months with better chances of crossing the finish line together. Coming on October 6, 2023, are Sony's questionable Spider-Man spin-off, "Kraven the Hunter," and Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" (jointly titled "Martin's Marvel Nightmare"). Then on November 22, Disney's "Wish" will premiere alongside Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" biopic ("Wishpoleon"). And, finally, on December 15, Timothée Chalamet's "Wonka" is set to be released with the stop-motion animated picture "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget" ("Wonka Run"?).
Admittedly, none of them feel quite as electric as the "Garfuriosa" double feature, but they still represent the same idea. Movies are best when they bring us together, even and especially in the strangest of circumstances.