Film fans hit the theaters Friday, preparing to watch two of this summer’s biggest releases – frothy comedy “Barbie” and nuclear arms biopic “Oppenheimer” – in a double feature dubbed by some as “Barbenheimer.” The meme that began online after the announcement the two movies would open on the same day grew into an unstoppable force that has seen moviegoers clamoring for back-to-back screenings.

A week out from opening day, UK cinema chain Vue says it sold 19% more tickets for Greta Gerwig’s light-hearted film than Christopher Nolan’s bleak portrait of the father of the atomic bomb. “We’ve put on as many screenings as possible for people to make that choice,” a Vue exec said. “But we haven’t seen anything quite like this before.”

The frenzied anticipation for Barbie, which will see audiences flocking to see the blonde icon in her Corvette, and Oppenheimer, with its themes of nuclear weapons development, has given rise to a social media frenzy and online memes that mock their stark contrasts. It’s even spawned a Twitter hashtag: #BarbievsOppenheimer, with moviegoers planning outfit changes and comparing the two films in a battle of pink paint and black screen.

But the mania around this parallel release has also brought theater owners a welcome boost in ticket sales. At AMC, which has seen an uptick in same-day double features, more than 20,000 people have purchased tickets to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” a senior company executive tells the Los Angeles Times.

In New York, salesman Eric Adams was among the moviegoers who waited to get into an early screening of both movies on Thursday. “I bought my tickets months ago as soon as they were available,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of this.”

While the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon may seem absurd, it’s not without precedent. It’s a variation of the counterprogramming strategy, where a tonally different film is released on the same day as another significant release to attract an audience that wouldn’t usually attend the other film.

And it’s not just a trend that could bolster “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” If the trend continues, it could boost summer box office totals, which have lagged because of the writers’ strike. That puts much pressure on the movies to perform well, especially for Nolan’s blockbuster sequel, which has gotten little buzz ahead of its July 21 debut.