One of the most anticipated upcoming movies of 2023 has to be Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. That tracks, as this is the first big-screen, live-action film for one of the most popular toys that's ever existed. So you can imagine that it’s not only a big deal for star Margot Robbie and all the other people involved but an even bigger deal for Mattel, which owns the brand. In fact, the movie's success is such a big deal that one toy company executive apparently flew across an ocean when he was afraid a scene in the movie didn’t work. So how did that pan out?
In a new story on the Barbie film for Time, it’s revealed that Richard Dickson, COO and president of Mattel, actually flew to London where the movie was in production, specifically to argue with the director and leading lady. He apparently felt that a scene in the film was “off-brand” for Mattel and Barbie.
It was eventually decided that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie would perform the scene for him in order to ease his concerns. When he had a clearer picture of how the sequence would actually play out on screen, he changed his mind. Certainly, the COO of Mattel wasn’t used to reading scripts, so it seems that he didn’t have a full grasp of the scene from simply reading it on the page. As Margot Robbie explained…
When you look on the page, the nuance isn’t there, the delivery isn’t there.
Again, it's not all that surprising that a Mattel executive would get on a plane and fly for hours to argue over a scene in the movie. This project is certainly a big deal for the corporation. If it isn’t a hit, it'll reflect on the toy brand itself. While a successful film adaption can boost a brand, a failure can have the opposite effect. Even Greta Gerwig has admitted she's been afraid Barbie could end her career. Also, Mattel has hopes to make a lot more movies based on its brands so, if this doesn't work out, that could all be in jeopardy.
Even if the movie is successful (especially if it's successful), you want to portray the proper image for Mattel and the doll. The toyline hasn’t become one of the top sellers in the world by not having its image meticulously managed.
And one assumes that the upcoming Barbie movie is going to walk a delicate line. If we just got a movie about the titular doll and Ken going on some sort of adventure together in their own world, that would be one thing. But the Barbie trailer has teased that the script by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach is going to take at least something of a critical look at the iconic doll. While that would make for a potentially interesting movie, Mattel still wants people to leave the theater loving the character.
It seems Mattel is happy with the Barbie movie we’re getting. Now the question is how will the audience respond? Thus far, a lot of people are excited by the prospect of a doll having an existential crisis. We’ll find that out if it all works when the Barbie movie hits theaters on July 21.
