Greta Gerwig Is Writing & Directing The Barbie Movie, So Get Ready For Life In Plastic
Get ready, because it's time to enter a whole new kind of Barbie world. A movie about the iconic doll has been in the works for quite some time, but recent news about the film's creative team is making it clear that Barbie is going to come to life on screen soon. Greta Gerwig is writing and directing the Barbie movie, so fans know their favorite doll is in good hands.
The Wrap reported that Gerwig will write the Barbie movie alongside her longtime collaborator (and romantic partner) Noah Baumbach. Meanwhile, Gerwig is also being eyed to sit in the director's chair for the project, which will aptly be named Barbie. Margot Robbie is both producing and starring as the doll herself.
Gerwig and Baumbach are known for their quirky, indie styles. They collaborated on the 2012 movie Frances Ha, in which Gerwig also starred. Gerwig also was nominated for Academy Awards for writing and directing 2017's Lady Bird, and she is currently working on post-production for her version of the classic Little Women. Clearly, Gerwig knows a thing or two about making movies that feature strong, independent-minded women. Barbie should be right at home alongside the characters from Gerwig's previous movies.
When the Barbie movie was originally announced, Amy Schumer was set to the play the titular role. However, she had to back out because of scheduling conflicts. Next, Anne Hathaway was rumored to be stepping into the role, and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was at one point in talks to direct. The third time's hopefully the charm now that Gerwig and Robbie are attached.
The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that "the script told of a woman that slowly awakens to the fact that she doesn’t fit into the perfect land of Barbies and journeys to the real world, where she discovers that being unique is an asset." Now that Gerwig and Baumbach are working on the script, it'll likely go through some changes. Fans on Twitter already have some ideas about what this version of the Barbie movie might look like based on their previous indie movies.
It's true that Gerwig does have a penchant for sending her characters down dark and twisty paths, so she very well might do that with Barbie. For her, that's all part of building a story. Gerwig told The New York Times:
I have a deep need to take care of my characters. It’s not that I don’t want to go down the dark avenues — I want to hold their hands down the dark avenues. I want to walk with them while they go there and give them the dignity of representing it honestly, and finding the thing that is grace-filled.
Barbie traditionally hasn't gone down many dark paths; she usually spends more time in her pink-tinted Malibu dream house. It'll be exciting to see how Gerwig's version of Barbie grows and changes in a more gritty world when the long-awaited movie comes out. Barbie is set for a spring 2020 release.
