“No one will let us make this”: Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Was Fully Prepared for Warner Bros. to Shoot Down $145M Film Because of Its “Wild, Anarchic” Script
Greta Gerwig decided to bring the colorful world of Barbie Land onto the big screen, and the early reactions signal Barbie‘s colors are transcending from the fictional world to the real.
The Adventures of Barbie and Ken have garnered incredible initial success at the box office and the movie that’s total budget touched the $145m mark is heading for a historic $155 million-plus opening domestically.
The female-fueled movie is not just earning the big bucks but is also getting rave reviews from critics. However, the early journey of bringing Mattel’s iconic doll to life wasn’t easy for its director.
Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Thought No One Will Let Her Make the Wild Movie
The plot of Barbie, which tries to attract the focus of adults to the life of Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling), is written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach.
On the surface, the story of Barbie and her friends in Barbie Land might be scoffed at for being too simple, but Gerwig puts out multiple complex references and jokes onto the big screen to get her message across through this comedy drama. Some are so ‘wild’ that the 39-year-old was initially uncertain if anyone would let her make the movie.
During an interview with IndieWire, the Little Women director was asked to give insight into Warner Bros’ reaction to her decision of including ‘a great Snyderverse joke’ in the script.
“I think it was definitely something where when turned in the script, which was the wild, anarchic thing that it is, there was this general feeling of, no one will let us make this,” Gerwig responded.
“Not Warner Bros., not Mattel, not anybody. I really put it down to Margot, who all the way along as a producer and as an actor, stood in front of it and said, ‘This is the one I want to make and let’s figure out how to make it.’ And they just, shockingly, went with it.”
The mention of Snyderverse isn’t the only reference in the movie. Barbie’s cast also talks about The Godfather, Matchbox Twenty, and David Matthews Band among others at different intervals. Gerwig admitted that maybe she turned the script into something like “Bananagrams” and Warner Bros. didn’t even know where to start.
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What Is the Snyderverse Reference in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie?
As mentioned earlier, Gerwig has turned a pretty simple story of Barbie into a complex and hilarious drama with her layered jokes and references. And so far, the Snyderverse joke has left fans scratching their heads more than any other particular reference.
In one part of the movie, Ken has managed to stem the idea of patriarchy in Barbie Land and to counter this danger Barbies need to be snapped out of their trance and join hands to stop Ken’s idea of renaming their home to Kendom.
This follows a monologue from human Gloria about the patriarchy, to which Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), reacts: “It’s like I’ve been in a dream where I was really invested in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League.”
The reference has opened doors for several explanations and theories. Regardless, it’s bold of Warner Bros. to take a sly dig on one of their own projects.
Source: IndieWire
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