People Are Going to 'Avatar' Just To See 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer … – The Mary Sue

Last night, I went to a screening of Avatar: The Way of Water that didn’t have previews, and while they probably thought that was a good thing, they apparently didn’t know that several of us were really there to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the big screen. So the minute the screening ended, my friend and I booked tickets to another screening of Avatar and ran upstairs to do what the good lord intended: Watch the Oppenheimer trailer in IMAX.
There was still no Barbie trailer and I was furious, but we’ve since been gifted with the teaser, so I can’t stay that mad. Still, the struggle to see the trailers for Barbie and Oppenheimer—which are both being released on July 21—has been real. Running to the IMAX to see the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s film did make it feel like I was part of some secret mission, which my friend coined the “Oppenheimer Heist” as we left shortly after the trailer:
tryna coin the #OppenheimerHeist aka when you sneak into an Avatar screening to watch the Oppenheimer trailer and then leave ?
And it seems to have become the new Twitter trend: Get a ticket to see Avatar: The Way of Water and leave right after the trailers.
me about to sneak into an avatar screening when i go see violent night tmrw to watch the barbie trailer then leave pic.twitter.com/BQZlvnxLcX
It’s a simple thing. You just go into the theater and leave before the movie starts. You don’t have to do anything else. If you’re me, you might need to figure out where to leave the 3D glasses they gave you, but that’s a personal problem.
Look, as someone who did this, it was worth it. I absolutely need to see the Oppenheimer trailer as many times as physically possible because I am a self-named “Nolan bro.” Pair that with a potential look at Barbie and whatever the Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning: Part One sneak peek was (Tom Cruise was definitely trying to die), and it was worth the extra 20 minutes I spent in the theater.
My desire to not see Avatar and my overwhelming desire to see Barbie movie footage are at war right now.
And sometimes, it’s hard to figure out which screening has the teasers for Barbie and Oppenheimer. Some don’t have any, some have one, others have both. It’s really a game of chance.
But when it does happen and you get a sneak peak of what your life will be like on July 21 2023? Perfection.
Me watching the Barbie & Oppenheimer trailers before Avatar pic.twitter.com/j1luDIvy3a
It was such a moment in time online, with so many of us frantically trying to see any sort of footage from these trailers to make our lives better. And we were right for it. Both Oppenheimer and Barbie look incredible, just as we thought they would.
I NEED TO SEE THE BARBIE TRAILER pic.twitter.com/sROm3kqwrR
So, whether or not you’re ready to embrace it, you might need to go into a screening of Avatar: The Way of Water to see the Oppenheimer trailer, and if you’re feeling really brave, see it in IMAX so you can witness Tom Cruise riding off a ramp and jumping off a cliff four times to promote his new Mission Impossible movie.
(featured image: Warner Bros. / Universal Pictures)
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Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. A writer her whole life but professionally starting back in 2016 who loves all things movies, TV, and classic rock. Resident Spider-Man expert, official Leslie Knope, actually Yelena Belova. Wanda Maximoff has never done anything wrong in her life. Star Wars makes her very happy. New York writer with a passion for all things nerdy. Yes, she has a Pedro Pascal podcast. And also a Harrison Ford one.
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