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Barbie and Oppenheimer — the unlikely pair of films that dominated the box office and spawned countless internet memes this summer — topped the newly revamped Golden Globes nominations on Monday.

Barbie— a vivid feminist satire about the all-conquering line of plastic dolls — claimed nine nods, including best comedy as well as acting nominations for stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

This year’s top-grossing movie, earning more than $1.4 billion globally, Barbie also scooped a whopping three best song nominations, and recognition for its writer-director Greta Gerwig.

Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s critically adored film about the inventor of the nuclear bomb, took eight nominations, including best drama and best director.

Cast members including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr all received nods.

The two blockbusters — collectively dubbed “Barbenheimer” after their theatrical releases happened to fall on the same date — now have a strong start to Hollywood’s film awards season, which ends with the Oscars in March. “It’s amazing that they maintained that momentum,” said the Globes’ new executive vice president Tim Gray.

“Last July, people were exclaiming about how popular they are, but I think nobody was confident that they were going to dominate the awards. But they did.” Other movies that proved popular with Globes voters were Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things, both earning seven nominations, and Past Lives with five.

Originally published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023