Comedy legend Will Ferrell will join Oscar nominee Margot Robbie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ forthcoming live-action Barbie movie, based on Mattel’s iconic toy doll franchise. Ferrell will also be starring alongside Ryan Gosling (The Big Short), who is set to portray the role of Ken.
According to THR, the upcoming film is said to have a meta aspect to it with Ferrell portraying a CEO of a toy company. While it’s currently unknown if the toy company is Mattel, it’d certainly make sense. The Anchorman star is coming off the Apple TV comedy series The Shrink Next Door with frequent collaborator Paul Rudd and recently filmed Spirited with Ryan Reynolds, which is also for Apple.
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The live-action Barbie movie will be led by Robbie (I, Tonya, The Suicide Squad), who is also serving as a producer through her LuckyChap banner. The project will be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. Further details about its plot and characters are still being kept under wraps, but production is expected to begin sometime this year at Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios in London. The studio is reportedly planning to release the film in 2023.
The film will also be produced by LuckyChap’s Tom Ackerly and Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner along with Josey McNamara and Ynon Kreiz. This marks Robbie’s latest collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures after starring as fan-favorite anti-hero Harley Quinn in 2016’s Suicide Squad, 2020’s Birds of Prey, and 2021’s The Suicide Squad.
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Barbie 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, while Diablo Cody was also previously attached to write. However, the project’s development was ultimately moved to Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.
