After being stuck in development at Sony for years, a live-action adaptation of Barbie is reportedly making its way to Warner Bros. with Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie in talks to star.
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The project has had a difficult time coming to fruition, with a number of different big names attached to different versions of the film. I Feel Pretty Amy Schumer star was at one point attached, though the actress’ busy scheduled prevented her from moving forward with the project. After Schumer, Ocean’s 8 star Anne Hathaway was reportedly taking over, only for that iteration of the project to also fall through.
Big actors aren’t the only names who have been involved with the Barbie film, as rumors circulated that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was attached, only for those reports to have been refuted.
According to Deadline, one of the biggest snags is that the brand is one of Mattel’s flagships, making them wary about a film moving forward that won’t do the toy justice.
The site also claimed that the concept of the story over at Sony “entailed a fish-out-of-water story a la Splash and Big whereby Barbie gets kicked out of Barbieland, because she’s not perfect enough, a bit eccentric and doesn’t fit in. She then goes on an adventure in the real world and by the time she returns to Barbieland to save it, she has gained the realization that perfection comes on the inside, not the outside, and that the key to happiness is belief in oneself, free of the obligation to adhere to some unattainable standard of perfection.”
Whether or not the planned film at Warner Bros. follows this same concept is unknown.
Given Robbie’s relationship with the studio, it would make perfect sense that she starred as the titular character in the adaptation, having been the breakout hit in Suicide Squad. Robbie’s next project with Warner Bros. is Birds of Prey, which will feature Harley Quinn, Dinah Lance/Black Canary, Helena Bertinelli/Huntress, Cassandra Cain, and Renee Montoya.
Directed by Cathy Yan, Robbie previously described the dynamic of the new film.
“I pitched the idea of an R-rated girl gang film including Harley, because I was like, ‘Harley needs friends.’ Harley loves interacting with people, so don’t ever make her do a standalone film,” Robbie said in a previous interview. “She’s got to be with other people, it should be a girl gang. I wasn’t seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it.”
Birds of Prey is set to open on February 7, 2020.
Stay tuned for details on the Barbie adaptation.
Would you like to see Robbie star in the film? Let us know in the comments below!
[H/T Deadline]
