Hi Barbie! Hi Ken! Everything we know about Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie movie
The zany trailer for Greta Gerwig’s plastic fantastic Barbie film dropped yesterday, and one corner of the internet hasn’t been talking about anything else since.
And with its perfect backing track of The Beach Boys’ Fun Fun Fun, its starry cast and getting a glimpse of the film’s hilarious script, we don’t blame them.
So, while there are still a couple of months to wait until Barbie lands on our screens (it’s set for release on July 21), here’s everything we know about the upcoming film that’s going to be the talk of the summer.
What’s the plot?
Even though there’s now a nearly two-minute trailer, we are still really none the wiser about the plot (and nor, by the looks of it, is the rest of the internet).
The film’s logline on iTunes and IMDb says, “To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.”
From the trailer we can garner that there are a lot of Barbies and a lot of Kens. We also know that they live in Barbieland, that the main Barbie and Ken, played by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, are boyfriend and girlfriend, and that Barbie meets the CEO of Mattel (who is played by Will Ferrell).
We also know that Ken seems to have some beef with some of the other Kens, that there’s going to be choreographed dancing, and that Barbie and Ken are going to go on some kind of adventure, or run away (luckily for them both Ken remembers to bring his rollerblades, which he always keeps with him). Basically we know it’s going to be a tonne of fun.
Who is starring in Barbie?
The film has an impossibly star-studded cast, which is partly why the internet was sent abuzz yesterday.
There are the Barbies: Robbie, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Ritu Arya, Kate McKinnon, Nicola Coughlan, Sharon Rooney, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa and Ana Cruz Kayne. There are the Kens: Gosling, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa and Scott Evans.
And there are the Humans: America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Helen Mirren (as, fantastically, the narrator), Ferrell, Connor Swindells and Jamie Demetriou.
Then there is Midge, played by Emerald Fennell and Michael Cera as Allan. Deep Barbie lore says that Midge is Barbie’s single and childless best friend (after a 2013 revamp to her story – she was originally sold ‘pregnant’) while Allan was originally Midge’s boyfriend or husband, depending on the era.
Speaking about playing Barbie to The Hollywood Reporter, Robbie said: “Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, people immediately have an idea of, ‘Oh, Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is’. But 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 added: “Now, can we truly honor the IP and the fan base and also surprise people? Because if we can do all that and provoke a thoughtful conversation, then we’re really firing on all cylinders.”
Who has made the film?
American film director Gerwig, who made Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019), has directed the film. She has co-written the script alongside her husband, director Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and directed Frances Ha (2012) and Marriage Story (2019).
Interest around Barbie started to pick up when Gerwig, who is known for focusing on women’s stories, was announced as being attached to the project.
“It was something that was exciting because it was terrifying,” said Gerwig about making Barbie while speaking to Dua Lipa on the singer’s At Your Service podcast in November. “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?’ And I think it was that feeling I had... knowing that it would be really interesting terror,” she said. “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.’”
The film was overhauled
A Barbie film was first announced back in 2016, but it was going to be a very different project. There was Australian director Alethea Jones attached to the film for some time, and Olivia Milch, who co-wrote Ocean’s 8, was set to write the script.
There was a moment when Anne Hathaway was going to feature in the film, then Amy Schumer was going to star as Barbie, in a version of the film which had Schumer’s sister Kim Caramele writing the script.
“I’m bummed, but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen,” said Schumer when she dropped out of the project because of scheduling issues. Gerwig officially took over in July 2021.
What happened after the trailer was released?
Well, the trailer dropped yesterday and immediately broke the internet. The BBC even reported on the fact that the trailer had take social media by storm, saying the, “all-star, live-action film about the world’s most famous doll is on the way, and it’s already one of the most talked about releases of the summer” and that the trailer, which “evoked the feeling of becoming nauseous in a sweet shop” had “prompted a flurry of brilliant memes”.
These included:
Wow didn't see this coming! pic.twitter.com/iy0Z8SdqTL
— Classical Studies Memes for Hellenistic Teens (@CSMFHT) April 4, 2023
He's just Ken. pic.twitter.com/KB4HUzBRKQ
— wasteland (@cronencunt) April 4, 2023
— Emma Chapple (@emma_chapple) April 4, 2023
the hottest girl you know is going to tweet this picture and say “need him” pic.twitter.com/bppcLI1mQY
— zach silberberg (@zachsilberberg) April 4, 2023
The Barbie team also released a rundown of the different actors and the characters they will play. The tagline of the film, “Barbie is everything and he’s just Ken” was reflected in their occupations: all the Barbies are super accomplished – there’s a Pulitzer Prize winner, a President, and a diplomat, for example – while the Kens are “just” Kens.
This spawned a number of articles about Gerwig’s feminist take on the American doll. The Standard argued, “the new Barbie movie is the feminist epic we deserve”, while GQ said: “The Barbie Trailer’s Kens are Not OK”.
Barbie will be released on July 21
