Nothing like a huge dose of pink and all kinds of bubble gum color palettes to brighten up a gray Tuesday. The second teaser trailer of the highly-anticipated BARBIE movie and it looks so much fun!

I’ve actually never been into Barbies or dolls in general, I was more into cars as a kid growing up with two brothers. The only time I paid attention to Barbie was when it appears in Toy Story 2 which was hilarious. When I first heard they were making a Barbie movie, I was more curious than excited, after all, it’s got quite a pedigree of talented people in front and behind the camera.

Greta Gerwig directs a huge ensemble cast from a script she co-wrote with her fellow writer/director husband Noah Baumbach. Per IMDb trivia, this project has undergone multiple different iterations since it was originally announced in 2009, and has been a property for three different studios. Originally it was a Universal Pictures production, but after five years of development, Sony Pictures took over in 2014. Jenny Bicks was hired as a screenwriter but replaced by Diablo Cody the following year. In December 2016, Amy Schumer entered negotiations to star in the title role, as well as rewrite the screenplay alongside Kim Caramele. Schumer exited the project in 2017 when it was announced Alethea Jones would direct, Olivia Milch would write and Anne Hathaway would play the lead. Sony’s option expired in October 2018 and the project transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures, where the project would finally leave the in-development phase.

What a Cast!

Margot Robbie (who serves as a producer) plays the main Barbie, and Ryan Gosling as the main Ken, but in this Barbie Land, there are multiple versions of Barbie and Ken – hey we are in the multiverse era after all, so naturally!

The different versions of Barbie are played by a diverse cast, not just in terms of skin color/ethnicity but also body shape: Ritu Arya, Nicola Coughlan, Ana Cruz Kayne, Dua Lipa, Emma Mackey, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Issa Rae, Sharon Rooney, and Alexandra Shipp. Emerald Fennell.

Same with the cast playing different versions of Ken: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, and Simu Liu.

Just like the dolls, these Barbie versions have a variety of occupations and achievements. I LOVE that Issa Rae plays President Barbie, Hari Nef plays Barbie doctor, Emma Mackey (Margot Robbie’s ‘twin’) plays Nobel-Prize-winning Barbie in physics, Ana Cruz Kayne plays Supreme Court Justice Barbie, etc.

As for the humans in the movie, we’ve got Dame Helen Mirren as the narrator and Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel, along with America Ferrera and Jamie Demetriou, though not sure who they’re playing.

What is the movie about?

The official synopsis reads:

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.

Well, the trailer reveals that Barbie and Ken have somehow been transported to the real world, so of course they don’t quite get the hang of what it means to live outside of Barbie Land. While Barbie seems to still be able to take things in stride, Gosling’s Ken doesn’t seem to be completely okay. Gosling and Simu Liu are seen as if they’re about to have a mano-a-mano, as manly as they can be in Barbie Land, ahah. But from what I read in interviews with Robbie, we should expect something original and off-the-wall. This is what she tells The Hollywood Reporter:

Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, people immediately have an idea of, “Oh, Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is,” but our goal is to be like, “Whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different — the thing you didn’t know you wanted.”

I really hope the movie will be as entertaining as it looks!

Brilliant marketing gets Barbie back into the cultural zeitgeist

The colorful character posters are fun to look at and you can’t help but smile while you look at them!

All-new character posters for #Barbie, featuring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Michael Cera, and more. pic.twitter.com/vs2sE0RsbM

— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) April 4, 2023

People have been making their own versions of the Barbie posters… from Ted Lasso, Wanda, Mandalorian, etc. 😀

I made #TedLasso as #Barbie posters! Originally posted these to my personal tumblr (nessa007) ☺ pic.twitter.com/24B1QP2auY

— tedlassogif (@tedlassogif) April 4, 2023

#barbie character posters but it’s wanda through the decades! pic.twitter.com/TgNlw6lhzd

— ken (@wandaslizzie) April 4, 2023

#DinDjarin and #BoKatanKryze in #Barbie posters.#TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/AdRWcxPnKl

— It’s Joy 🍡 | The Mandalorian SPOILERS (@JoyceAsakuraS2) April 4, 2023

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I think Warner Bros has a hit on their hands if we’re judging from social media reactions alone. Surely Margot Robbie needs a hit after two of her big-budget movies–Amsterdam & Babylon–both flopped. Not at all her fault of course as she’s always great in everything, but this just looks like a fun time at the movies! No run time or MPAA rating is revealed yet, though most likely it’ll be PG-13.

BARBIE will be released in theaters on July 21, 2023 – the same day as Christopher Nolan’s equally star-studded OPPENHEIMER. So practically every Hollywood actor will be appearing on the big screen that day!

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What do you think of BARBIE’s latest trailer?

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