As a few images from the upcoming Barbie movie leaked to every media and have the whole web in a frenzy we’ve gathered everything we already know about it.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are everywhere these days. Over the past few weeks, our Instagram feeds have literally been flooded with photos from the set of Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie film.
Developed since 2019, this highly anticipated film project aims to retrace the fictional life of the most famous doll. With a high-profile cast, notably Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling (Ken), this film with unprecedented popularity is one of the most anticipated cinema releases of 2023. In production since the beginning of June, the film is currently being shot in Los Angeles, California.
A unique opportunity for all fans to discover in real-time the first images of the biopic. And several scenes have already become a must-see: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in kitsch cowboy outfits or rollerblading on the Venice Beach boardwalk, in a total fluorescent look straight out of the 80’s… One thing has however caught the public’s attention, and the verdict is clear: the resemblance between the actors and their characters is striking.
The cast:
The Australian actress Margot Robbie has officially been chosen to embody the famous Mattel doll, who turns 60 this year, in a live-action film. And who better to play along side her than Ryan Gosling, as her partner? The latter actually landed the role of Ken last October. But it was only recently that the rest of the cast was confirmed: Emma MacKey, revelation of the successful series Sex Education broadcast on Netflix, should also hold a place of choice in the film. Will Ferrell also joins the cast as the head of a toy company (The Hollywood Reporter is already guessing Mattel, the originator of Barbie dolls, behind the company). Other stars include America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, Superstore), Issa Rae (Insecure), Alexandra Shipp (Tick, Tick… Boom!, X-Men: Apocalypse), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings), Hari Nef (And Just Like That…, You), Connor Swindells (Sex Education), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) and Michael Cera (Juno, Gloria Bell).
The plot will revolve around a Barbie who is ostracized and sent out into the real world because she is considered imperfect, as The Hollywood Reporter points out. The film will follow her as a human, forced to integrate into this new reality and all that it implies (she will have to take on the body of a real woman and no longer that of a doll). Interviewed by British Vogue in 2021, Margot Robbie acknowledged that the film “comes with a very heavy legacy”, but the actress invites the audience to understand it as a totally different rewrite of the first stories made about her. And given that it is being made under Greta Gerwig’s feminist vision, the surprise promises to be all the greater. What are we hoping for? A film that is as refreshing as it is relevant to current times.
The film will be released on July 21, 2023.
Words by Melodie Bitala-Samba
Header image: @wbpictures