Margot Robbie admits that playing the role of the iconic Barbie doll in an upcoming live-action film comes with a lot of baggage. The live-action film based on the popular doll has been in development for years now. The film joins a long list of Mattel toy brands getting the live-action treatment, including a Polly Pocket film starring Lily Collins and a Rock'em Sock'em Robots flick with Vin Diesel at its helm.
The Barbie movie has spent about a decade being tossed around various Hollywood studios. It started at Universal before moving to Sony. At that time, Amy Schumer was set to star in the film as the titular doll in 2016 before dropping out due to scheduling conflicts. Then, Anne Hathaway was selected to fill her place. And while plans for shooting began to shape up, the film rights went back into the hands of Mattel, who sold the rights to Warner Bros. It was then when Robbie was selected to star as the doll and serve as a producer through her LuckyChap Entertainment group. Greta Gerwig signed on to write the script, with rumblings that she might direct as well. It was rumored that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins would take the director's chair, but Jenkins shot that down.
Details surrounding the Barbie film are still up in the air, specifically a release date and the plot's direction to showcase the real-life version of the decades-old doll. And in a recent interview for Vogue, Robbie admits it's not an easy role to take on. Robbie said:
“Right, it comes with a lot of baggage! And a lot of nostalgic connections. But with that come a lot of exciting ways to attack it. People generally hear ‘Barbie’ and think, ‘I know what that movie is going to be,’ and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they’re like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I don’t...’”
Robbie seemingly confirmed that Gerwig would be taking the director's seat for the Barbie film, something that hasn't been made clear from Warner Bros. The pairing seems like the perfect storm for Barbie to take an unconventional storytelling approach that will go beyond fashion and boys in the characterization of Barbie. Several animated projects based on the doll have been created in the past, but it's clear this live-action version will use a completely different lens.
Robbie is the perfect fit for a new-and-improved Barbie. Her role in the Suicide Squad franchise and production credits for films like I, Tonya and Promising Young Woman are examples of her dedication to showing strong female characters on the big screen. And with Gerwig's directing experience on films like Little Women and Lady Bird, it seems impossible for this duo not to have a deep and creative take on the story. While films based on toy brands come with skepticism, the Barbie film is shaping up to be worth the wait for filmmakers to get it right.
Source: Vogue