(Updated 07/13/2023)
When it comes to highly-recognizable toy and entertainment brands, Mattel's Barbie is pretty high on any list you might create. So, for a long time, the idea of a live-action BARBIE movie has floated around Hollywood. While there are many Barbie parodies and references in movies and even a pretty direct appearance in the TOY STORY series, a live-action BARBIE movie has never come together — until now.
Here's everything we know about BARBIE so far, including the frankly amazing cast. When you see who's making the BARBIE movie, you'll understand why the cast signed on — and then the BARBIE trailer will likely sell you on the movie immediately.
Who Is Making the Barbie Movie?
BARBIE is directed by Greta Gerwig and written by Gerwig and her real-life partner, filmmaker Noah Baumbach. That's right: BARBIE is being spearheaded by indie all-stars, which is more than a little bit surprising.
Gerwig has previously directed two movies — LADY BIRD and LITTLE WOMEN, and she and Baumbach also wrote FRANCES HA and MISTRESS AMERICA together. When it came time for Gerwig to announce the movie that would follow up LITTLE WOMEN, BARBIE is certainly not what anyone expected! That alone has us interested in this movie.
When Does the Barbie Movie Come Out?
BARBIE will open exclusively in movie theatres on July 21. And, yes, that's the same day that Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER comes out, which makes for a fantastic double-feature.
Watch the Barbie Movie Trailer
The first BARBIE teaser trailer featured an extended 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY gag, which was not what anyone expected to see. The next teaser trailer was a dive straight into Barbie Land, a town full of pink buildings and cars and populated almost entirely by Barbies of every possible variety, and a bunch of Kens.
Now the full trailer — seen above — takes us into the "Real World" that lies somewhere outside Barbie Land's borders. Barbie, who seems to be having a sort of existential crisis, is guided by the seer-like doll played by Kate McKinnon to explore the Real World. There, she finds opposition from the world at large and especially from the head of Mattel, played by Will Ferrell.
Who Plays Barbie in the Barbie Movie?
Margot Robbie is the star of BARBIE! She signed on to the movie in 2019 and is producing as well as starring. Not long after joining the production, she told Variety, "I think it’s a great opportunity to put some positivity out in the world and a chance to be aspirational for younger kids."
More recently, in August 2021, Robbie admitted to Vogue that BARBIE "comes with a lot of baggage" but also "a lot of nostalgic connections." It sounds as if the filmmakers are keeping that in mind, however. "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…'"
Now that we've seen some footage, we definitely do not know what this movie will be like! Since Barbie is a property without any one story — the whole idea with dolls is that everyone gets to make up their own story — it's exciting that this isn't taking any obvious route with respect to story.
Who Else Is in the Barbie Movie?
Ken is part of Barbie's life, and in BARBIE Ken will be played by Ryan Gosling. That's a power couple! But that's just the beginning. Not only are many of Barbie's other perennial plastic pals around, but the character roster has a surprisingly deep bench.
The trailer, for example, shows off Michael Cera as Allen, the doll briefly marketed as Ken's best friend. The Allen toy even had a wife at one point, Barbie's best friend, Midge. That was a source of controversy, as Mattel once sold a pregnant Midge doll. In the movie, Midge is played by writer/director/actor Emerald Fennell, whose movie PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN was produced by Margot Robbie.
Meanwhile, America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty") plays a Barbie, as does Issa Rae ("Insecure"), whose Barbie is actually the President. Kate McKinnon ("Saturday Night Live"), seems to play that one Barbie doll whose hair has been hacked off… but she has attained wisdom that no other Barbie has. Hari Nef ("And Just Like That) and Alexandra Shipp (TICK TICK… BOOM!) are also Barbies. Emma Mackey ("Sex Education") is a Barbie, too, as are Dua Lipa, Ana Cruz Kayne, and Sharon Rooney.
Simu Liu is a Ken, as are Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa and Scott Evans. Oh and this is a Will Ferrell movie! He appears as the CEO of Mattel (echoing his LEGO MOVIE role) while Ariana Greenblatt appears as another regular old human person. And Helen Mirren narrates the story.
BARBIE opens on July 21.
All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.