Michael Phillips: The lesson Hollywood should learn from ‘Barbenheimer’? Let originality come through

“Barbenheimer” saved the movie universe this week by handing eager audiences an eyeful of two very different planets. Neither “Barbie” nor “Oppenheimer” was “just another,” meaning: not just another sequel to a proven, if fading, franchise. Or just another superhero, trapping in a quantum realm somewhere in a Marvel soundstage in Atlanta, looking for a decent return on the usual $300 million investment.

Co-writer and director Greta Gerwig‘s triumph made $162 million in the U.S. alone from the July 21-24 weekend. That’s the biggest domestic opening ever for a non-superhero film or sequel. Oh, and Monday? Typically the dead zone? The weirdly delightful “Barbie,” a 1959-born doll’s adventures in angst and yearning, broke records for the Warner Bros. opening week-Monday box office, the studio’s previous record-holder being “The Dark Knight” (2008), directed by Christopher Nolan, who wrote and