It’s a big day for Mattel, as we’ve only just reported that they’ve found a new home for their He-Man movie at Sony, and now we get to tell you the news that you’ve been waiting years for – Barbie is going live action and coming to the big screen! Well, okay, perhaps you haven’t been waiting years for the news, but with every other toy getting a movie adapation, it was inevitable Barbie would get a live action makeover at some point.
Sadly though, she won’t battling He-man (now that would be a movie), as while Sony has taken over Masters Of The Universe, it’s Universal who will be shepherding Barbie to the screen. They’ve set Laurence Mark, producer of everything from Jerry Maguire to Julie & Julie, to oversee the project, with the next step being to go out and find a writer.
There’s certainly a big market out there for a Barbie film, as the 16 straight-to-DVD animated titles Mattel has produced in recent years have sold 75 million units. However it’ll be interesting to see how they do a live action film, as the animated movies have tended to be fairly fantastical, with Barbie as a fairy, or taking on classic ballets and fariytales.
It may be a bit surprising that there hasn’t been a live action Barbie movie before, but in Variety Mattel Senior VP Richard Dickson commented, “The brand wasn’t ready for a movie. In the last 10 years, Barbie has evolved from a toy into an intellectual property.” And I’d be willing to be that he said that with a straight face.
There’s no news on when they’re actually hoping to get the film into cinemas, although we shouldn’t think they’ll want to wait too long.