For her next feature film, director Greta Gerwig is taking on the story of an even littler woman with a towering legacy: the iconic Barbie doll.
Warner Bros. unveiled the first peek at the live-action movie with Margot Robbie looking suitably fantastic as the plastic princess along with a release date for the film during the studio’s presentation at Las Vegas’ CinemaCon on Tuesday.
The Australian star sparkles as the Mattel figure in the image, which gives fans a hint at how Gerwig and company plan on bringing Barbie to the big screen.
Sitting in a classic pink Chevrolet, Robbie is dressed in a retro ’60s-style blue and white ensemble with a polka dot headband, which is placed atop her signature blonde waves.
Warner Bros. Pictures released the image on social media with a simple caption: “#BARBIE July 21, 2023. Only in theaters.”
Barbie’s material world will be populated with a slew of famous faces, including Ryan Gosling, who is set to star as the character’s longtime counterpart and love interest, Ken.
Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae and Hari Nef will also appear in undisclosed roles in the film, which will be penned by Gerwig and partner Noah Baumbach.
Details about the film remain scarce, but Robbie has discussed her approach to the role, which she said “comes with a lot of baggage” and “a lot of nostalgic connections.”
“But with that come a lot of exciting ways to attack it,” she told British Vogue last year. “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 ... ’”
She later teased to The Hollywood Reporter that project aims to subvert expectations, remarking, “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 told the outlet.
A live-action film about the character has long been in development with both Anne Hathaway and Amy Schumer attached to star in the title role at various points.
Schumer, for one, said that she exited the production over creative differences, revealing that she was sent a pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps after being cast in the role.
“The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal,’” she told The Hollywood Reporter in March. “They definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it.”