Opening with a faux serious voiceover about the invention of the Barbie doll, the first teaser trailer, released on December 16, features the first footage of Margot Robbie in character, dressed in a black and white striped one-piece and retro shades. Also of note? A panoramic view of her pastel-hued world; Ryan Gosling and Ncuti Gatwa in questionable outfits; Issa Rae in a “President” sash; Simu Liu dancing; and Robbie in a glittering dress at the center of an extravagant musical number. We can hardly wait.
According to Margot Robbie, the film will take past criticisms of Barbie—and her own casting in the biopic’s lead role—into account
In her cover interview for British Vogue’s August 2021 issue, Robbie admitted that creating a live-action Barbie film “comes with a lot of baggage” as well as “a lot of nostalgic connections.” “But with that come[s] 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…’” It’s no secret that the franchise’s lack of diversity has historically proved controversial, too—and is something that Gerwig will need to tackle head-on in the film.
Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Robbie actually took over the role from another famous blonde: Amy Schumer
Having signed on to do the project with Diablo Cody, the Oscar host later dropped out of the project due to conflicts about the nature of the film. “They definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, theonly way I was interested in doing it,” Schumer told The Hollywood Reporter—noting that, when she tried to make Barbie an inventor in her script, she got told to make her an inventor… of Jell-O stilettos. Another red flag: the fact that she got sent a pair of Manolo Blahnik heels to celebrate landing the role. “The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal.’” Cody, meanwhile, distanced herself from the project after failing to write a script that she thought did the material justice.
Gerwig worried the film might be “a career-ender” in the beginning
The director joined Dua Lipa on the pop star’s At Your Service podcast in November, offering some insights into her decision to take on the controversial film. “It was something that was exciting because it was terrifying,” she explained. “I think that was a big part of it, like: ‘Oh, no, Barbie.’… It felt like vertigo, starting to write it, like: ‘Where do you even begin, and what would be the story?’… Usually that’s where the best stuff is, where you’re like, ‘I am terrified of that.’ Anything where you’re like, ‘This could be a career-ender’—then you’re like, ‘I should probably do it.’”
