Warner Bros. had taken the reigns on a live-action “Barbie” movie from Sony as previous versions of the project, featuring variations of talent, including screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno“) and actresses Anne Hathaway and Amy Schumer, fell apart. “Barbie” is currently in production in the United Kingdom with Greta Gerwig (“Little Women“) directing Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”) as the lead character from a script Gerwig co-wrote alongside Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story“).
Last night, Warners announced that “Barbie” will be released exclusively in theaters on July 21, 2023, and it should give folks the impression that the studio is extremely confident with the film if they’re giving it a blockbuster spot on their release slate. Along with that announcement they included a first look image of Robbie (see below) as the live-action incarnation of Barbie, all smiles in a very accurate pink convertible and what could be a version of the doll’s “DreamHouse” playset.
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Many are shocked that “Barbie” has become this huge casting effort as the volume of actors joining the film mirrors Christopher Nolan‘s atomic bomb drama, “Oppenheimer.” Both studio films are adding as many people as humanly possible.
The rest of the cast consists of Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Will Ferrell, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emerald Fennell, Hari Nef, Rhea Perlman, Sharon Rooney, Scott Evans, Ana Cruz Kayne, Ritu Arya, Ncuti Gatwa, Connor Swindells, and Jamie Demetriou.
The image certainly has a period feel to it (1950-1960s?) but it’s unclear if “Barbie” will in fact take place in the past or simply that some stylish production design choices are being made by Gerwig. As plot details have yet to be revealed we do know that Gosling is playing Barbie’s beau Ken and that Ferrell is playing a toy company CEO. Either way, it’s a highly anticipated title for next year, with cinephiles trying to see what Gerwig makes of it, and Mattel and the film industry very curious to see if they have a hit on their hands.
