Barbie (Film)

***Barbie*** is a 2023 American fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig and written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. Based on the Barbie dolls by Mattel, it is the first live-action Barbie film after many computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming television films. The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, who go on a journey of self-discovery. The cast that includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.

A live-action Barbie film was first announced in September 2009 by Universal Pictures, but development began in April 2014, when Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to the character. Following multiple writer and director changes and the casting of Amy Schumer and later Anne Hathaway in the titular role, Sony lost the rights, which were transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures in October 2018, with Robbie being cast in 2019. Gerwig was announced as director and co-writer with Baumbach in 2021. Gosling and the rest of the cast were announced in early 2022. Filming took place primarily at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England from March to July 2022.

*Barbie* premiered at The Shrine in Los Angeles on July 9, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 21, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Plot

Barbie and a wide range of fellow Barbies all live in Barbieland, a matriarchal society where all women are self-confident, self-sufficient, and successful. While their Ken counterparts spend their days engaging in recreational activities at the beach, the Barbies hold all important job positions such as doctors, lawyers, and politicians. Ken, Barbie's boyfriend, is only happy when with Barbie and seeks a closer relationship, but Barbie rebuffs him in favor of independence and female friendships.

During a dance party, Barbie is suddenly stricken with worries about mortality. The next day, she finds she can no longer complete her usual routine and discovers blemishes on her skin and hair. Weird Barbie, a wise but disfigured outcast, tells her that to cure her affliction she must travel into the real world and find the child playing with her. On the way to the real world, Ken stows away in Barbie's convertible.

Arriving at Venice Beach, Barbie and Ken cause multiple antics and are arrested, alarming the Mattel CEO, who orders their capture. Barbie tracks down her owner, a tween girl named Sasha, who criticizes her for encouraging unrealistic beauty standards. Distraught, Barbie discovers that Gloria, a Mattel employee and Sasha's mother, is the catalyst of her existential crisis. Gloria began playing with Sasha's Barbie toys while experiencing her own identity crisis, inadvertently transferring her concerns to Barbie. Gloria and Sasha rescue Barbie from Mattel's CEO and his subordinates, and the three travel together to Barbieland.

Meanwhile, Ken learns about the oppressive American patriarchal system, and feels important and accepted for the first time. Returning to Barbieland, he persuades the other Kens into taking over and the Barbies are subjugated into submissive roles such as maids, housewives and agreeable girlfriends. Barbie arrives and tries to convince Ken and the Barbies to return to the way things were. She is rebuffed and becomes depressed, but Gloria inspires her with a speech about the problems of being a woman. With the encouragement of Sasha, Gloria, Weird Barbie, Allan, and other abandoned toys, the Barbies free themselves from the Kens. They manipulate them to fight amongst themselves, allowing the Barbies to regain their systemic power, and preventing the Kens from altering the Barbieland constitution to enshrine male superiority.

Barbie and Ken apologize to each other and acknowledge their failings. Ken bemoans that he has no identity or purpose without Barbie, to which Barbie encourages him to find an autonomous identity. Barbie, who remains unsure of her own purpose and identity, meets with the spirit of Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler, who explains that Barbie's story has no set ending and her ever-evolving history surpasses that of her roots.

Barbie decides to become human and return to the real world. Some time later, Gloria, her husband, and Sasha take Barbie, now going by the name "Barbara Handler", to her first gynecologist appointment.

Music

The film's soundtrack, *Barbie: The Album*, is set to be released on July 21, 2023. The album will feature songs by artists Ava Max, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Haim, Ice Spice, Kali, Karol G, Khalid, Sam Smith, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, PinkPantheress, Tame Impala, the Kid Laroi, and cast members Ryan Gosling and Dua Lipa. "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa was released as the album's lead single on May 26, 2023. It was followed by "Watati" by Karol G on June 2, 2023. "Angel" by PinkPantheress was released on June 9, 2023. "Barbie World" by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice was released as the album’s fourth single on June 23, 2023. The album's fifth single, "Speed Drive" by Charli XCX was released on June 30, 2023. On July 6, 2023, the album's sixth single, "Barbie Dreams" by Fifty Fifty and Kaliii was released. On July 10, 2023, Warner Bros. released a preview clip of Ryan Gosling singing "I'm Just Ken". The album's seventh single, "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, was released on July 13, 2023.

Despite fan expectations for the 1997 song "Barbie Girl" by the pop band Aqua to feature in the film, Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen, manager for Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm, said that it was not used. *Variety* speculated that this was due to bad relations between Mattel and MCA Records, the song's American publisher, who engaged in a series of lawsuits over the song from 1997 to 2002. "Barbie World", a rework of the song, will instead be featured in the film. It samples "Barbie Girl"; Aqua is credited as a performer and co-writer on the track.

Release

*Barbie* had its world premiere at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, United States, on July 9, 2023, followed by the European premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in London, England, United Kingdom, on July 12, 2023. It was theatrically released nationwide in the United States, and the United Kingdom on July 21, 2023 taking over the original release date of *Coyote vs. Acme*.