It has been two years since Greta Gerwig's Barbie broke box office records in theatres, becoming a cultural phenomena for its incorporation of new-age themes. Illumination and Mattel Studios are now in the process of developing a new Barbie movie, this time in animated format for theatres.
While there are not many details revealed about the project as of yet, the film will be released by Universal Pictures with financing and distribution managed by Illumination. No directors or actors have been finalised for the film.
In its dream theatrical run, Barbie, starring Margot Robbie in the lead alongside Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, America Ferrera, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell, earned over $1.447 billion and became the highest-grossing film of 2023 and the 14th highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release. Audiences watched both Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in theatres as it was released globally on the same day, a phenomenon that was termed as Barbenheimer. It caused a social media frenzy with several memes, fan art and discussions buzzing on social media.
It was nominated for eight Oscar Awards and won the Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s 'What Was I Made For?'
Mattel's other slate of films include a live-action Masters of the Universe, Matchbox and Jon M Chu's live-action Hot Wheels film.
The company has also unveiled plans for feature films based on the toy brands Whac-A-Mole and View-Master. In addition, it is working on several other projects inspired by its intellectual properties, such as American Girl, Bob the Builder, Magic 8 Ball, Major Matt Mason, Polly Pocket, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Thomas & Friends, UNO, and Wishbone.
