No one expected 2023’s Barbie film to do as well as it did. Probably not even the director Greta Gerwig herself. Almost certainly not its production companies like Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures. And yet, as we can all plainly see, the blonde icon for dolls everywhere has become an international sensation. In fact, the film made nearly $1.5 billion USD in the global box office. You can say a lot of things about the film, but you can’t deny that Barbie is rolling in the dough.
In fact, it may be why we’re getting this particular story today. Deadline is reporting that Illumination and Mattel Studios are proud to announce that they have finalized a deal to develop a Barbie animated feature-length film for theaters. Alas, Illumination and Mattel Studios have both declined to comment on their own announcement. We don’t have any casting or crew, and we don’t even have a release window for this animated film yet. Heck, we don’t even have even so much as a smidgen of a teaser of the story yet.
All we know for certain is that Universal Pictures will release this unnamed Barbie animated film, and that’s it. We will just have to wait for more info from Illumination, Mattel Studios, and Universal Pictures at a later date.
Barbie Animated Feature-Length Film Reaching Theaters for the First Time
Funnily enough, there have been animated films starring Barbie before. Numerous films, in fact, 44 animated films starring Barbie have been made thus far over the years since the release of Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001). However, all of them have been direct-to-video or, more recently, direct-to-streaming only. None of them have ever seen the inside of a movie theater before.
However, this new film from Illumination and Mattel Studios looks like it will break the plastic mold there. Barbie shall finally get her chance to shine on the silver screen. What she will do there is anyone’s guess at this point, but we can all certainly hope that Greta Gerwig might lend her talents to this film as well. Fingers crossed, everyone.
What do you all think of this bit of Barbie news? Are you curious about this upcoming animated feature-length film? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Source: Deadline
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