It appears ironic that after months of fuss over Oppenheimer’s too-brief (and ultimately prolonged) window in IMAX theaters, and the query of who was going to get to see it in “true” IMAX and who must accept varied types of “LieMAX,” the opposite half of the Barbenheimer pairing is now sliding in to take over the place Oppenheimer left off. Warner Bros. introduced Thursday that Greta Gerwig’s Barbie will play in IMAX theaters for one week beginning on Sept. 22 — now with “further, never-before-seen post-credit footage.”
It’s unclear presently how a lot new footage will likely be featured within the new lower, and whether or not it will likely be an entire post-credits scene, or only a assortment of outtakes. The unique theatrical lower of Barbie doesn’t have a post-credits scene. Warner Bros. says that Gerwig personally chosen the brand new content material from materials that was already shot for the film, however had no additional particulars.
This isn’t the primary time a film has headed again to theaters with new footage added: Again in 2004, Napoleon Dynamite entered huge theatrical launch with an extra five-minute post-credits scene that wasn’t a part of the preliminary film-festival lower or the restricted theatrical launch. Eight months after the theatrical debut of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Manner Residence, the movie returned to theaters with a new post-credits scene, plus further footage sprinkled all through. And the 2022 theatrical re-release of James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster Avatar added teaser footage for the sequel, Avatar: The Manner of Water.
In all these instances, the studios behind these expansions gave the impression to be making an attempt to ask repeat enterprise from followers who had already seen the films in query, and wanted an excuse to return to the theater for one more viewing.
Not that Barbie actually wants the additional enterprise: It’s presently on observe to turn into the highest-grossing film of 2023, passing The Tremendous Mario Bros. Film within the high slot. The one query now’s, will followers maintain dressing up in fancy Barbie-themed outfits in the event that they go see the film’s IMAX run?