Barbie Director Was Afraid To Make The Movie For One Big Reason
Greta Gerwig was scared to make the Barbie movie for fear it would be a "career-ender."
Greta Gerwig has been one of the biggest risers in Hollywood, as the woman has received plenty of acclaim for writing and directing movies like Little Women, Lady Bird, and now the Barbie movie. However, during a recent podcast appearance with Dua Lipa, Gerwig revealed that she was frightened to make the adaptation. According to Gerwig, “Anything where you’re like, ‘This could be a career-ender,’ then you’re like, ‘OK, I probably should do it.'”
Gerwig does have a fantastic point in that should she deliver a flop of a movie, it could end her career, or at least derail it for some years. While that might sound a bit unfair, that is the nature of the business and one that all creators know. She also has the painstaking role of having to direct such huge stars as Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, and Simu Liu in the Barbie movie.
Simu Liu spoke about joining the Barbie movie back in August on the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron, as he stated, “It’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read.” Liu is just coming off a hugely successful role in Shang Chi, so to go from the hugely profitable MCU to a risky movie is something that many would criticize, but he believes enough in the script to have wanted to stake his claim in the Mattel adaptation.
Greta Gerwig is also no slouch of a director or writer, so we could imagine that she knows what she is doing with this Barbie movie, despite the fear that it could end her career. We would even go so far as to say she is safe only for the simple reason of the expansive cast, though having a huge cast doesn’t necessarily equate to success. We are looking at you, Cats.
Apart from the cast announcements and the images of both Robbie and Gosling as Barbie and Ken, most details about the Barbie movie are being kept under wraps. We would argue that no one would have ever thought to adapt one of the biggest toys into a live-action movie, so learning anything pertinent about the plot might go over everyone’s head. We certainly can’t wait to see a trailer.
The Barbie movie will officially debut in the summer of 2023, and we are hoping that the trailer for this potential blockbuster will be dropping in the next couple of months. There are many people who believe in it, including Will Ferrell, who recently claimed it’s the highest level of “art.” We will withhold judgment for now, but if Simu Liu and Ferrell are backing it, then it has got to be something special.
The Barbie movie will premiere on June 21, 2023, just in the right time to appear as one of the summer blockbusters, but we would imagine it might have trouble hanging with The Flash, which comes out on June 23rd, and Indiana Jones 5, which comes out on June 30th. Still, we are thoroughly curious about what makes this movie so special to the actors and hope they aren’t saying it’s amazing for promotional purposes. We will all find out once a trailer drops, which could be coming soon.
