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»Barbenheimer« poster design: »Opportunity for black humour«

Photo: Full Moon Features

The name was a cipher for the two very contrasting films with which Hollywood lured audiences back to cinemas in the summer of 2023: »Barbenheimer«, a portmanteau of the feminist puppet spectacle »Barbie« and the ambitious physicist biopic »Oppenheimer«. Some cinemas offered double features with both films, and there was even speculation about a "Barbenheimer" wave of coronavirus infections.

As internet fun, both films were combined in a variety of ways in the summer, as a double trailer or as a fake poster.

But now the "Barbenheimer" affair seems to be taking on a very real form. At the American Film Market, which took place last week in Santa Monica, California, a production company was looking for buyers for a feature film called "Barbenheimer." The renowned trade magazine »The Hollywood Reporter« reported on the project, and the production company AMP International confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that it is dealing with the rights.

Filming hasn't taken place yet, but there's already a poster design that uses the pink Barbie font design, a marketing slogan ("D-Cup, A-Bomb") and a synopsis of the plot.

According to the report, it is about Dr. Bambi J Barbenheimer, a brilliant scientist doll who lives happily in Dolltopia with her boyfriend Twink Dollman. But just like Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Dr. Barbenheimer also ends up in the real world, where she gets to know humanity from its worst side. There is only one solution: she builds a gigantic atomic bomb to wipe them all out.

Sounds like a cynical attempt to profit from the success of the box office hits with cheap trash as a free rider? The man behind »Barbenheimer« wouldn't disagree: »That's 100 percent true,« says director Charles Band, an old master of the fast-paced B-movie, to the »Hollywood Reporter«. But it's also an opportunity to combine the attitude of "Barbie" and the gloom of "Oppenheimer" for a bit of "black humor."

Charles Band, born in 1951, has directed more than 60 films in his career and has been responsible for many others as an executive producer. His oeuvre includes films with such promising titles as »Dollman – The Space Cop!«, »Evil Bong« and »Corona Zombies«. In the noughties, his films »Blood Dolls« and »Puppetmaster II« were shown on the night program of German television stations. And respected actresses such as Demi Moore (in »The Killer Parasite«) and Helen Hunt (in »Trancers«) owe Band's first major feature film roles.

There is no further information about the cast of »Barbenheimer« yet. But director Charles Band is happy to make a silly film in these times when every cinema reboot is grim. The idea for the "Barbenheimer" came from his biographer, Adam Felber. The two co-authored "Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts and Gonzo Filmmaking."

The script and some of the songs have already been written by Brian Wecht, one half of the music-comedy duo Ninja Sex Party. Before filming can begin, however, Charles Band has to complete another film. Its title: "Bad CGI Gator".

Feb