According to The Wrap, Warner Bros. and Mattel have somehow convinced Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach—two legitimately talented and accomplished people—to write that Barbie movie with Margot Robbie. Gerwig is even being “eyed” to direct the film, which (no offense to Mattel or Gerwig or the generations of Barbie fans) is wild. She made Lady Bird! She’s one of only five women ever to get a Best Director nomination at the Oscars, and now Warner Bros. wants her to make Barbie? We’ve all seen how bad every other licensed toy movie has turned out, right?
Anyway, this is just the latest development in the very long saga of the Barbie movie, which was first in development at Sony with Amy Schumer set to star. When she backed out, Anne Hathaway was set to take her place, but The Wrap’s story says the rights to the movie went back to Mattel last year. Now, the toy company is setting it up through its new Mattel Films division with Warner Bros. Pictures. We don’t really know anything about what to expect from the Barbie movie at this point, especially with Gerwig and Baumbach getting involved, but it pretty much has to be some kind of meta-deconstruction of what Barbie means in this modern world. Also, Saoirse Ronan will probably play Barbie’s sister Skipper.
