These last few weeks we’ve heard of filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Schrader, Oliver Stone, John Waters and Guillermo del Toro buying tickets to one or both of the ‘Barbenheimer’ movies.
Last Friday, Steven Soderbergh admitted that he hasn’t had a chance to see either film, but not for a lack of trying. It turns out that every showtime, for both films, in the small town he lives in was sold out (via Defector):
I couldn't get in! Because the neighborhood I'm in, where I go to the theater, they were sold out 10 days ago, and they're sold out for the next 10 days. I don't know where I'm going to see them.
It now seems as though, over the weekend, Soderbergh managed to nab a ticket to “Oppenheimer,” he tells Rolling Stone the film is aces:
I’ve only seen Oppenheimer. I’m halfway there. I couldn’t get into Barbie! But Oppenheimer is a real accomplishment. I read somewhere that Chris implied that this is the movie he’s been building toward, and I think he’s right. And I’m thrilled that it’s a massive hit. This is such good news for the movies — both of them, really. You have two blockbusters from directors who came out of the independent world who were given complete control over these large-scale projects and they’re massive hits.
There has been so much praise for Nolan’s film, and plenty of Oscar buzz to go along with it. “Oppenheimer” has, so far, grossed $570 million worldwide. It’s the 10th most profitable R-rated movie in history — it might finish in the top 5 by the end of its run.
In that same interview Soderbergh recalls first watching Nolan’s “Memento” and thinking it was “an instant classic”. However, despite the critical acclaim, the heads at Warner Bros did not want to meet with Nolan, who really wanted to direct “Insomnia” as his follow-up effort. In fact, it took some convincing on the part of Soderbergh to set up this meeting:
(Nolan’s agent) calls me and he goes, ‘Look, there’s this script over at Warner, “Insomnia.” Chris is really interested in it, but Warner won’t take the meeting.’ And I go, ‘What do you mean they won’t take the meeting?’ And he goes, ‘Well, the executive there didn’t like “Memento.”‘ And I said, ‘Well, so what? Why won’t they take the meeting?’ So, I called that executive and I said, ‘Take the meeting. You’ve got to take the meeting.’ And he goes, ‘But I didn’t like the movie.’ And I go, ‘Well, did you like the movie-making?’ And he goes, ‘Well, yeah, it’s brilliantly made.’ And I go, ‘Take the meeting.'” […] The executive came back and said, ‘I really love Chris.’ And I go, ‘Well, yeah.’
This kickstarted a very fruitful two-decade relationship between Nolan and Warner Bros, and we have Steven Soderbergh to thank for that.