Barbie~ The Greta Gerwig-directed fantasy will hit theaters on July 21, 2023.
At the end of 2018, the news came that the actress Margot Robbie was in talks to star in the new film about Barbie, and now it is a reality: we already have a release date, trailer, synopsis and more about ‘Barbie’, directed by Greta Gerwig.
The movie about Mattel’s most famous doll has been around for a long time: in 2014 Sony acquired the rights to the Barbie company to prepare a movie about her. At first the project had Amy Schumer, but she left the project due to, according to her, “scheduling problems”. Then Anne Hathaway came in, who eventually also left. Director Alethea Jones and screenwriter Olivia Milch did the same. The project changed hands: from Sony it went to Warner Bros, and finally the protagonist of ‘Birds of Prey’ was in charge of starring in the film. So among Margot Robbie’s next projects is to bring the doll to life. She and she not only stars in the movie. As usual in her career, she also produces with her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, a company she runs with her husband Tom Ackerley and her best friend, Josey McNamara.
In a press release, via Harper’s Bazaar, Robbie said his new character is someone who promotes “confidence, curiosity and communication throughout childhood, and empowers kids to imagine themselves in aspirational roles, from princess to president”. Although she was unable to reveal Barbie’s plot, she said she was “very honored” to take on the role and “produce a film that I believe will have a tremendously positive impact on children and audiences around the world.”
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar for December 2018 / January 2019, Robbie opened up about the challenges and stereotypes she faced as an actress when she first stepped foot in the entertainment industry. “When I was trying to make a name for myself as an actress, creative roles for women were limited,” she told the magazine for the cover story. “I didn’t want to pick another script where I was the wife or the girlfriend, just a catalyst for the male story. That wasn’t inspiring.”
‘Barbie’ release date
As announced at CinemaCon: ‘Barbie’ will be released on July 21, 2023, the same day that Universal has located the new Christopher Nolan, ‘Oppenheimer’.
Synopsis for “Barbie”
The plot of the film is currently unknown. However, everything indicates that the creative team behind the production wants to do something completely out of line with what you would normally expect from a movie based on a doll line. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, who are mostly known for indie films like ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Marriage Story’ respectively, are certainly an interesting duo to team up with, and it makes potential story ideas all the more intriguing. . The plot lines that have been released from the story are very basic: a doll that lives in ‘Barbieland’ is expelled into the real world for not being perfect enough.
The actress of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ revealed that the expectations of the fans should disappear. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the producer also commented that the film will give the audience “what you didn’t know you wanted.”
Robbie, who co-runs the production company behind the film, LuckyChap Entertainment, with her husband Tom Ackerley and her best friend Josey McNamara, explained to the outlet that this new Barbie project challenges assumptions about her character. “We like things that feel a bit left of center,” the Australian noted. And although many think that they believe what the story is going to be about, she insists that this will be something very different.
Considering that LuckyChap Entertainment is behind such genuine releases as ‘A Promising Young Woman’, ‘I, Tonya’ or ‘Birds of Prey’, you have to be aware that elementary and easy is not going for Robbie.
It has also been known, via the journalist Kyle Buchanan, that in the story there will be different versions of Barbie and Ken. The other versions of the doll will be Issa Rae and Hari Nef. In addition to Gosling, the first of the signings, they will also play the Barbie couple Simu Liu and Ncuti Gatwa.
Ryan Gosling has also commented on how fascinating this -for now secret- story is. According to the actor, Ken’s character in ‘Barbie’ has a much more difficult life than his spy character in ‘The Invisible Agent’, his last job on Netflix. “Ken has no money, no job, no car, no house. He’s going through some stuff.”
These comments further help rumors that the script places Ken and Barbie lost in the real world. However, Gosling, like the rest of the cast members who have spoken, plays the clueless again: “It’s not what you think it is, unless it is”… Well, he can’t say much more about it either. the movie for now. We’ll keep waiting.
‘Barbie’ cast
Barbie always goes with many accessories, among them is Ken, her secondary boyfriend. Robbie is finding adventure partners, and already has a -very well chosen- Ken. Last October it was known that Ryan Gosling was chosen to be the doll’s partner in history. After finishing with ‘The Gray Man’, by the Russo brothers, the actor will put himself in the hands of Gerwig.
In addition, Simu Liu, the actor seen in ‘Shan-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings’, has also just joined the project, but his role is not specified. Also the actress America Ferrara will be in the plot directed by Gerwig. No details of her role have been released either.
Also joining the project are the comedian and actress Kate Mckinnon, whose character, along the lines of the others, is a mystery, and the young Ariana Greenblatt, seen in ‘Love and Monsters’ or ‘In a New York neighborhood’.
The actress seen in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ and more recently in ‘Tick, Tick… Boom’, Alexandra Shipp, also enters the cast under Gerwig’s orders.
Will Ferrell is also in the cast. The actor has acknowledged details about his character in an interview, and everything indicates that, in addition to the CEO of Mattel, he will be the bad guy in the movie.
In addition to defining Gerwig’s plot as “a loving tribute to the brand and, at the same time, being most satirical,” the actor said that he makes references “to the male patriarchy and women in society and why they criticize Barbie and yet why does every girl still want to play with Barbie. When I read it, I thought: ‘This is fantastic’ (…) I can play the CEO of Mattel and be that guy who is just insensitive but weird And then, well, I can’t say anything else, but it’s something I’m excited about anyway.”
There will also be actress Emma Mackey (‘Sex Education’, ‘Death on the Nile’), whom many fans expect the actress to play the doll’s sister, Skipper. But we must wait for more details of the plot.
Along the lines of ‘Punches in the back 2’ (and in its day ‘Don’t look up’), Gerwig is undoubtedly adding a most succulent cast. In addition to the names mentioned, Rhea Perlman (seen in the series ‘Cheers’ or ‘Matilda’), Ncuti Gatwa (‘Sex education’), Emerald Fennell (Camila Parker in the series ‘The Crown’ and director from ‘A promising young woman’), Kingsley Ben-Adir (‘One night in Miami’) or Scott Evans and even Michael Cera.
There are many rumors that the film will be full of other versions of Ken and Barbie, so that many names in this cast may become stereotypes of the famous Mattel couple.
The one who won’t be able to be there, despite that, is the actress Saoirse Ronan, the actress who has worked with Gerwig in ‘Little Women’ and ‘Lady Bird’. According to the actress herself, she could have appeared in the film when filming was taking place in London, but it was impossible due to scheduling problems.
