Will Ferrell Is Teaming Up With Margot Robbie For A Surprising Franchise
Will Ferrell has been in so many movies at this point in his career that he's really going to have to stretch to find exciting new things to do. Apparently, he's managing just fine.
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Will Ferrell has been in so many movies at this point in his career that he’s really going to have to stretch to find exciting new things to do. Apparently, he’s managing just fine. The actor just signed on to work with Margot Robbie on the new Barbie movie. There are probably not a lot of people who would have guessed that one was coming. This news is still very fresh, and the studio isn’t yet announcing what role Will Ferrell will be playing, however, The Hollywood Reporter hears from their sources that he has been cast as the CEO of a toy company that “may or may not” be Mattel, the real-life company behind the Barbie toy franchise. If what they hear is correct, this should mean that the Barbie movie is going to take a very meta approach to the iconic doll’s story.
Margot Robbie has been cast as Barbie. She is also a producer on the movie. She hasn’t been at liberty to share what we can expect from the movie, except to say that we should expect the unexpected. Apparently, that includes the casting of Will Ferrell. About the movie, she said:
Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, 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.’
Margot Robbie
Will Ferrell joins an impressive cast list beyond Margot Robbie. The film also boasts Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, and America Ferrera. While we don’t know the characters most of these great actors are playing, we do know who is playing Ken. In fact, Giant Freakin Robot broke the news that Ryan Gosling will be playing Ken for Barbie in an exclusive report 10 months ago. It’s going to be interesting to finally see Ryan Gosling and Margot take on the iconic characters in the new movie.
What else do we know about Will Ferrell’s new movie? Barbie was written by Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) and Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story). Greta Gerwig has also signed on as a director for the film. Margot Robbie was attached to the project early on, but the part of Ken reportedly took a while to nail down. It’s been said that Ryan Gosling originally turned down the part of Ken due to issues with his schedule, but thanks to filming delays, he got to sign on for the part after all. The movie is set to be filmed in London this year. While an official release date has yet to be announced, it’s expected to release in theaters in 2023. As a Warner Bros production, there hasn’t been any news on whether it will also release on HBO Max for streaming.
For now, that’s all the news on Barbie. Outside of this new casting, Will Ferrell fans can catch him in The Shrink Next Door, a dark comedy series he recently did with Paul Rudd. The series is available for streaming on Apple TV+. Sometime this year (hopefully), audiences will be able to see him team up with Ryan Reynolds for Spirited, a musical comedy take on the classic Charles Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol. No release date has been announced, but we’re expecting it to premiere in the 2022 holiday season.
