Forget fancy premieres and red carpets! Emily Blunt and John Krasinski opted for a hilariously low-key approach to watch Blunt’s blockbuster, Oppenheimer. In a move worthy of a spy thriller, the couple snuck into a random theater just as the lights dimmed. What followed was pure surprise for Blunt.
The couple’s spontaneous escapade made it a night of unexpected thrills and an epic movement. Who says Hollywood stars don’t crave a good movie surprise?
Emily Blunt’s Surprising Movie Night Turns into a Pop Culture Phenomenon
“You’re not going to believe what I just saw,” Emily Blunt excitedly whispered into the phone to co-star Cilian Murphy. This wasn’t your typical run-of-the-mill celebrity sighting. Blunt and her husband John Krasinski (yep, A Quiet Place actor), had just snuck into a random movie theater…to watch her own movie.
The movie in question? Oppenheimer, a historical drama, turned into a pop culture phenomenon, thanks to a quirky twist of fate. Emily Blunt, who played J. Robert Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty, wasn’t expecting it to be a blockbuster. But the universe had other plans.
A SAG-AFTRA strike threw a wrench into the Oppenheimer premiere, leaving Blunt and the cast without a chance to see the film with an audience (per ABC News). Determined to experience it for herself, Blunt and Krasinski snagged some tickets to a matinee showing in Nyack, New York. Now, here’s where things get interesting.
As the lights turned low, Blunt and Krasinski snuck into the theater. And could y’all guess what they saw? A group of teenagers in cool Oppenheimer costumes with pipes dangling from their mouths. Lol. At the very moment, Blunt just knew this film’s gonna be more than just a film. It was a movement! In an interview with Variety, the 41-year-old actress revealed,
I realized that Oppenheimer was going to be a very significant moment in cinema history when John [Krasinski, her husband] and I managed to find two seats at an Imax in Nyack, N.Y., in a shopping mall. We snuck in when the lights went dark, and I saw a group of teenage boys coming in dressed as [Cillian Murphy]. In Nyack, N.Y.! I got chills.
Oppenheimer hit theaters on July 21, 2023, the same day as the fan-favorite film, Barbie. The very clash of a gripping historical epic with a bright pink iconic doll stirred up a global phenomenon, and boy was it fun! Fans called it Barbenheimer, and of course, there were memes, costumes, and even a double-feature challenge where people raced to watch both movies back-to-back.
This Barbenheimer craze pulled in over $1.1B ticket sales worldwide. But for Blunt, the real joy wasn’t the box office breakout—it was the unexpected cultural moment it created. She alluded,
It was a celebration. It wasn’t about one movie being better than the other. It was about choice, about audiences getting to decide what they wanted to see.
And in the end, the audience decided they wanted it all—Oppenheimer’s intellectual depth and Barbie’s playful fun. Now isn’t that a popcorn-worthy twist?
The Devil Wears Prada Sequel in the Works with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt
A sequel to The Devil Wears Prada is in the works at Disney, with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt reprising their iconic roles, per Puck News.
Streep’s Miranda Priestly, the terrifying fashion editor who made grown women cry (we’ve all been there), will be up for a new challenge this time: the decline of print media. Meanwhile, Blunt’s Emily, once Miranda’s harried assistant, has climbed the fashion ladder and now holds the purse strings at a major luxury group. Could this be Miranda’s salvation?
While both Streep and Blunt are on board, it’s unclear if Anne Hathaway will return as the hapless Andy Sachs (via E! News). Hathaway previously threw shade on a sequel, but hey, never say never in Hollywood, right?
This isn’t just wishful thinking. Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, director David Frankel, and producer Wendy Finerman are also reportedly in talks to return.
Watch Oppenheimer on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
