It's more concrete than "People went because of the director and the story".
Continue to tell your failing MCU-butthurt self that lie. The
Barbie film took a globally popular toy line--already a hook--and subverted clutral perceptions expectations while simultaneously giving some respectful nods to the multi-generational characters / tropes.
Oppenheimer was sold on the strength of one of this century's best director-writers, who already succeeded in the WW2 genre with
Dunkirk, so Nolan and the subject matter were responsible for sending moviegoers to theaters at record levels. Oh, I will gladly remind you that
Oppenheimer is the highest grossing WW2/related film in history. He is that kind of filmmaker.
Yes, yes, sad one, I know the mere mention of Nolan's own appeal--who directed and co-wrote what is arguably the greatest of all superhero films with
The Dark Knight--causes you to roll in the floor in some Marvel-defensive fit, but the facts are there to be found, and again, you have not presented one concrete fact to support your whining, which--once again--is all designed to explain the recent era Marvel Studios underperformers and flops.
...and your other claim--that
only "moms and girls" saw and made
Barbie the phenomenal success that it was is some rather ultra misogynistic crap unsupported by fact, similar to
your utterly disrespectful claim that the Academy only awarded Ledger the Oscar for
The Dark Knight not due to the power of this performance as the Joker, but due to a mythical "gay agenda", which had "Hollywood" wanting to, but afraid to award him for
Brokeback Mountain, so they gave it to him for
The Dark Knight as some sort of secret, "gay agenda" consolation prize. Quite the sickening fantasy, all due to your eternal hatred of the fact DC movie actors were recognized by the Academy in ways no MCU actors have, and its unlikely they ever will..
Yeah, that is all you, and part of your pattern of believing the worst kind of antisocial fantasies and pushing them as some ever-failing protective measure for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to Anwar, you--and other males admitting they enjoyed the movie (read: supported it as part of the films success)--do not exist. You must be a ghost or some illusion projected from Talos IV.