“But does he have to be?”: Mattel Executives Cried Foul After One of Them Had To Be Shot in Margot Robbie’s $1.4B Barbie
Greta Gerwig has now established herself as one of the biggest female directors in Hollywood after the release of Barbie. She had full creative control and even Mattel or Warner Bros. couldn’t stop her from pouring her creative thoughts into the movie’s plot.
The director of Barbie Greta Gerwig shared that Mattel had numerous questions and suggestions like including a scene that features the company’s executive being shot and transforming Margot Robbie’s appearance. However, she refused to incorporate those ideas and made Barbie according to her vision.
Mattel Couldn’t Stop Greta Gerwig From Crafting Barbie Her Way
People who have watched Barbie know about the energy and fantasy it had, that was crafted by none other than the director Greta Gerwig. Her movie featuring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken broke numerous records including Marvel movies and even Christopher Nolan‘s. According to Variety, Gerwig revealed that she and Noah Baumbach received Mattel’s notes about filming Barbie.
The company didn’t demand a particular scene or a change in the film but questioned whether it be good if Barbie included a scene in which a Mattel executive was being shot with a fake arrow. This became a humourous situation for the makers who thought it could have been utilized in an advertisement. Gerwig said:
“All the notes had a question mark at the end, It wasn’t like, ‘This has to happen.’ It was more, ‘But does he have to be?”
Greta Gerwig shared that the notes from Mattel weren’t demanding as they mostly had suggestions and question marks in the end. So, this allowed the director to craft Barbie in her own way without letting any suggestion change or disturb her vision of making the film.
Also Read: Margot Robbie Can’t Sleep Without Her Special Toy That Makes Her Husband Jealous
Mattel CEO Gave Greta Gerwig Complete Freedom
The freedom of creativity that Mattel provided Greta Gerwig while writing the script for her movie is one of the reasons why Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s movie turned out to be an incredible piece of work. The director shared that the CEO Ynon Kreiz was highly supportive of creating Barbie according to Gerwig. She revealed:
“really did give us a tremendous amount of trust and freedom. There was a real, ‘If you say this is right, then let’s go.”
The Mistress America director shared that Mattel even suggested using CGI to showcase the iconic Barbie feet and replace the CGI version with Robbie’s real feet. Mattel originally wanted this to happen in the film, but Gerwig couldn’t accept the suggestion and turned it down. Robbie and Gosling’s duo has been the main reason why people went crazy to watch the film.
There are claims that Robbie and Gosling will team up again in the upcoming crime drama titled Ocean’s Eleven prequel which is also claimed to be the most exciting adaptation compared to its previous ones. It is believed that the movie will be set in 1960s Europe and directed by Jay Roach.
