Oscar nominee Margot Robbie (I, Tonya, Birds of Prey, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) is in talks to star in the upcoming Barbie movie as Mattel is now partnering with Warner Bros. to develop the project based on the popular doll, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The feature film was originally being developed at Sony for the last few years, with Amy Schumer and then Anne Hathaway both initially in talks to star in the movie. In January it was announced that the movie had been pushed back to a May 8, 2020 release date. Robbie — who has a busy slate including Dreamland, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Birds of Prey, and Ruin — will now take over the role from Hathway.
The Barbie screenplay arrives from Hilary Winston (The LEGO Ninjago Movie, the Bad Teacher TV series) with Amy Schumer and her sister Kim Caramele having done a rewrite. Oscar winner Diablo Cody was also working on the screenplay at the studio back in 2015. Winston’s script is said to follow a misfit living in a land of perfect Barbies, who comes to the real world where her being/looking different turns into an asset. The film has been described as being a contemporary spin on beauty, feminism, and identity in the comedic fantasy vein of Splash, Enchanted or Big. Barbie is being produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and Amy Pascal.
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