Meryl Streep says Greta Gerwig’s Barbie 'saved the movies' last summer

Meryl Streep was all love for Greta Gerwig's Barbie, starring Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie, when she recently visited the Palm Springs Film Awards. Prior to this, the director and actor collaborated on the 2019 movie Little Women.

Barbie bagged an award for its song What Was I Made For? The song was sung and written by Billie Eilish and Finneas, who became the first songwriters to win the Chairman’s Award. Post their win, Meryl said, “I just want to say to Billie and Finneas that you have delivered the 'Barbie' love bomb. You’ve saved the movies last summer and all of our jobs. You’ve delivered joy to countless generations and genders of people. You should surf that wave, kids, until you’re old and deserve to be jaded like me.”

Steven Spielberg had similar praise for Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick last year. When the ET director ran into the actor at the Oscars nominees luncheon, he thanked him for keeping movie theatres alive post the COVID-19 pandemic. “You saved Hollywood’s a** and you might have saved theatrical distribution. Seriously, Top Gun: Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry,” he said.

As per reports, Barbie earned $ 1.44 billion worldwide and holds 16th position among the biggest films in terms of worldwide collection in history. The film is also said to be the biggest film ever to be directed by a woman.

Barbie has a record-breaking 18 nominations for the Critic's Choice Awards in addition to nine Golden Globe nominations. Twelve Grammy nominations were received for the film's soundtrack, with What Was I Made For? winning in the Records and Song of the Year categories. Along with two other Barbie songs, Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken and Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night, it is also shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Barbie, which takes inspiration from Mattel’s iconic doll, stars Margot Robbie in the lead role as the Stereotypical Barbie and Ryan Gosling playing Ken. The film also features America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, and Will Ferrell, among others.