Why Barbie Made Warner Bros. And Mattel Nervous, According To Margot Robbie
Moviegoers might think that Warner Bros.' upcoming film "Barbie" was always considered a slam-dunk prospect by its production team thanks to its clever, confident ad campaigns and winning trailers. But it turns out the studio and Mattel alike approached the project with caution at first.
"We've got two very nervous ginormous companies, Warner Bros. and Mattel, being like: What's their plan? What are they going to do? What's it gonna be about? What's she going to say? They have a bazillion questions," co-producer and lead actor Margot Robbie said, speaking to Vanity Fair in June about the experience of bringing the film to life. Since several Barbie-related movie projects have launched and stalled over the past few years, including a failed attempt with Amy Schumer, one can't blame executives for having their trepidations.
Robbie worked hard to soothe executive concerns and tried to create a film that even notorious Barbie haters might enjoy. She eventually won the day, even though her production company, LuckyChap, initially pitched Mattel's CEO without a story in mind. With the rights in their pocket, the actor approached Greta Gerwig to direct and write the film, but it seemingly required some work to ensure the Oscar-nominated screenwriter had full creative freedom.
Gerwig's approach to the material was poetic -- literally
Margot Robbie told Vanity Fair that she was afraid Greta Gerwig might turn her down when she approached her to work on "Barbie." "I was very scared it was going to be a no. At the time this was such a terrifying thing to take on," she said. Fortunately, Gerwig decided to take on the project with longtime collaborator Noah Baumbach, with whom she's been crafting tales since they communally scripted the critically-acclaimed indie hit "Frances Ha." According to Robbie, LuckyChap ultimately managed to attain full creative freedom for the director-writers.
Yet even having two Oscar nominees helming the film didn't stop executives at both titanic conglomerates from expressing their concerns about the project. And those worries probably weren't soothed by Gerwig's approach to writing the movie. Robbie said Gerwig's treatment consisted of a poem. "Greta wrote an abstract poem about Barbie. And when I say 'abstract,' I mean it was super abstract." On top of that, the writers didn't share anything with the studio or production company until the script was finished. And once Robbie and the film's other producers read the script, they were stunned by a joke they encountered on the first page.
"I think the first thing I said to Tom [Ackerley, a partner in LuckyChap] was, This is so genius. It is such a shame that we're never going to be able to make this movie," Robbie said. Fortunately, Vanity Fair reported that the finished product is, in fact, close to Gerwig's script. Fans will get to judge for themselves how well it works when "Barbie" hits theatres on July 21.