There are movies about Legos. There are movies about troll dolls. There are movies about birds with bad tempers who’re stuck in your phone. There are movies about goddamn emojis. Though the world certainly doesn’t need more (sometimes, as was the case for Lego, startlingly good) films based on zeitgeist-y toys and virtual symbols, there’s no doubt that any non-human thing could become a movie. (Buckle your seat belts as you ready for…Cleaning Spray II.) And you’ve likely heard, over a long development process, and the addition then subtraction of Amy Schumer, Barbie is amongst the commodities to soon be turned into a film. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Anne Hathaway is a contender to play the hyper-gendered toy!
In fact, it was Hathaway who was behind the selection of Alethea Jones as the director; Jones, an Australian director who most recently helmed Fun Mom Dinner, is still in talks to join. As THR notes, the initial plan was never to reify the body image disproportionality and exaggerated norms of femininity of the late-50s born tiny plastic gal, but rather to turn “Barbie mythology on its head.” (Which could, itself, turn into a very heavy-handed experience if not handled with levity.) The extant script apparently follows a Barbie Girl realizing she doesn’t fit into the traditional Barbie world we think of when we think of a Barbie world — and then sees her journeying into the “real world” and learning to appreciate her uniqueness.
The film, which is being produced by Sony, has June 29, 2018 set as a potential release date…which would mean this would have to get started, and then finished, quite quickly. Apparently, Sony is reluctant to change the already-anticipated release date, so if Hathaway’s schedule proves inflexible, they may seek another apparent Barbie-doubting-Barbiedom.