Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy wants to play Ken in Barbie sequel

Fresh off a harrowing performance in Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy has expressed interest in a role that would require the opposite tone.

In an unexpected merging of worlds, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy has said, if there’s a Barbie sequel, he’d like to play Ken.

The two films — jointly dubbed Barbenheimer — debuted to the fourth largest opening weekend in cinematic history when they premiered on the same day last week.

Barbie shattered its rival, earning $356 million (A$526 million) worldwide from a 65 per cent female audience on its opening weekend. Oppenheimer, meanwhile, earned $180 million (A$266 million).

Greta Gerwig’s budget was reportedly up to A$215 million, meaning Barbie has made its money back in just a few days.

Barbie earnedA$526 million on its opening weekend. Picture: Barbie.

Oppenheimer earned A$266 million. Picture: Oppenheimer.

Despite their wildly different themes — Barbie is about an iconic doll, while Oppenheimer is about the team behind the first atomic bomb — the two movies have proved strangely unifying. Together, they have been credited with “saving cinema” after the move towards streaming decimated audiences’ appetites for a traditional blockbuster.

As a red carpet event this week, Murphy, who plays the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s film, hinted a literal Barbenheimer sequel could be in the works.

Asked by a reporter whether he would play Ken in a potential sequel to Gerwig’s hot pink flick, Murphy didn’t miss a beat.

“Sure! Let’s read a script,” he told Latin American film publication Cinéfilos. “Let’s have a conversation.”

Cillian Murphy says he is open to playing Ken in a Barbie sequel. Picture: Oppenheimer.

Murphy said he was super excited to see Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken.

“I can’t wait to see the movie. I think it’s great for cinema, you know, you’ve got all these great movies happening this summer,” he added.

The lack of audience competition between the two films has baffled film critics, who say they’ve never seen anything like it.

“This is an unequivocally great weekend for moviegoing,” said David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, as per Variety.

“Barbie and Oppenheimer are complementing each other at the box office, not taking audience from each other.”

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore, told CNN that the films’ opening weekend was “unprecedented”, with both flicks benefiting from their rivalry.

“I can’t really think of any parallels ever. Where both movies became bigger because of each other,” he puzzled.