Will Ferrell has ed the live-action Barbie movie is being written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach with Gerwig handling directing duties. Robbie will play the titular character, while Gosling is expected to play Ken, Barbie's love interest. Also ing the cast of the film is X-Men actress Alexandra Shipp, Shang-Chi's Simu Liu, Death on the Nile's Emma Mackey, Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera.
The Barbie movie has been in development for some time, initially casting comedian Amy Schumer in the role as far back as 2016. Eventually, Schumer dropped out of the project and was replaced by Anne Hathaway. However, since the film wasn't made in time, the rights reverted back to Mattel, who sold the rights to WB, causing another creative stir for Barbie, leading to Robbie's casting and the hiring of Gerwig and Baumbach to tackle the property. Now, after numerous delays, rights issues, and COVID-related stalls, Barbie is gearing up to make her big-screen live-action debut.
In yet another big casting move (via Deadline) for Barbie, actor and comedian Will Ferrell has been cast in the film in an undisclosed role. Thus far, no story details have been revealed for the film, so it's unclear how Ferrell's brand of comedy will work in the feature, although his casting is no doubt purposeful in that regard. Production is expected to kick off soon, now that all the main players appear to be in place for the adaptation.
Ferrell most recently starred in The Shrink Next Door with Paul Rudd on Apple TV+ and will next be seen in the musical comedy Spirited with Ryan Reynolds. The actor also leads the voice cast of Strays, an animated comedy co-starring Jamie Foxx and Isla Fisher, set for release in 2023. Ferrell's last feature film role was in the Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, co-starring Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, and Pierce Brosnan.
WB seems to be playing the Barbie movie close to the chest in of story details, but the assembled cast is more than enough to lure audiences in. Both Robbie and Gosling as Barbie and Ken, respectively, is enough on the surface, but the additional cast, including Ferrell, make for an incentive that may help the film's reach to audiences outside the standard demographic. Gerwig and Baumbach have a history of unique, quirky, and refined style in their work, which will no doubt make Barbie something more than yet another shallow toy property adaptation, but something with weight, meaning and almost certainly a good amount of humor.
Source: Deadline
