Little has been mentioned since the first time we learned Margot Robbie would play a dystopian-esque Barbie in early 2019. Admittedly we thought it was all but a failed biopic mission. Nearly 12 months since the last report, it seems the film is still going ahead and finally, the blonde bombshell has found her Ken. Enter: Ryan Gosling.
According to Deadline, the Notebook star is in “final negotiations” to play the character which was first introduced by Mattel in 1961. He was always the first choice to play Ken, however due to scheduling, he turned down the part. But as prep-production was drawn out, time opened up for the busy actor.
Warner Bros. is behind the upcoming film while it will be directed by our favourite award-winning, feminist-driven director Greta Gerwig (best known for her films Little Women and Lady Bird). The script is co-written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach while Robbie is producing the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment company.
Given the filmmakers behind-the-scenes, the upcoming movie won’t be all Malibu sunshine and plastic-fantastic shoes. Instead Robbie has teased it will be on the darker side of plot lines.
“It comes with a lot of baggage,” Robbie said in a August 2021 interview. “[There’s] 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…’” Thus far the only details revealed about the plot are that it will centre around a doll living in Barbieland who is “expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world”.
These comments were echoed in an earlier interview with Hollywood Reporter.
“Our goal is to be like, whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different — the thing you didn’t know you wanted,” she told the publication.
The film is expected to commence filming in early 2022.
