TV & Movies

Barbie movie: Release date, trailer, cast, plot, more

Margot Robbie in a poster for the Barbie movieWarner Bros.

She’s a Barbie girl, in a Barbie movie – so here’s everything we know, from its release date and trailer to cast, plot, and other details.

Wrapped in plastic, she’s fantastic, and her movie is looking like it’s going to be fantastic as well. Barbie, the upcoming film by Greta Gerwig, is looking to be one of the most highly anticipated movies of next year.

Gerwig will be co-writing and directing the film, with her partner Noah Baumbach also co-writing. Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Mattel’s Robbie Brenner and David Heyman are producing.

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Barbie films have always been well-loved, and there’s a lot of hype surrounding this movie, but also a lot of mystery – so here’s everything we know so far, including its release date, trailer, and cast.

Barbie movie release date: When is it coming out?

Barbie will premiere in cinemas on July 21, 2023. So not long now!

This has the same release date as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, so naturally, memes have begun to spring up about how different the two films are, at least aesthetically.

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Barbie movie trailer: Is there a trailer?

Yes, a new trailer dropped for Barbie on April 4, 2023. Check it out below:

You can also watch an earlier teaser trailer for the movie below, and it’s every bit as otherworldly as you’d expect a Greta Gerwig Barbie film to be.

Another trailer has also dropped, which goes a lot more into the plot of the film:

Finally, a first clip of the movie has been released, that features an injured Ken:

Barbie cast: Who is starring in the movie?

The Barbie movie has a rather star-studded cast, but the roles they’re playing are also worth thinking about.

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Firstly, Margot Robbie is of course playing the titular doll. Ryan Gosling will be playing love interest boy-toy Ken, and the internet recently went crazy over his new look for the film.

As for the rest of the cast, it seems like they are all going to play different variations of Barbie and Ken, or at least other Mattel characters. It’s hard to imagine how Gerwig is planning to play this out, but it’s certainly intruging, especially when you’ve got a stellar line up such as this:

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Barbies:

  • Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie
  • Sharon Rooney as Lawyer Barbie
  • Nicola Coughlan as Diplomat Barbie
  • Ana Cruz Kayne as Judge Barbie
  • Ritu Arya as Journalist Barbie
  • Kate McKinnon as Gymnast Barbie
  • Dua Lipa as Mermaid Barbie – Lipa is also adding new songs to the soundtrack
  • Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie
  • Issa Rae as President Barbie
  • Hari Nef as Doctor Barbie
  • Emerald Fennell as Midge

Kens:

  • Ncuti Gatwa as Ken
  • Simu Liu as Ken
  • Kingsley Ben-Adir as Ken
  • Scott Evans as Ken
  • John Cena as Merman Ken
  • Michael Cera as Allan

Humans:

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  • Helen Mirren as The Narrator
  • Will Ferrell as the Mattel CEO
  • Jamie Demetriou as a Mattel Suit
  • Conor Swindells as Aaron Dinkins, a Mattel Intern
  • America Ferrera as Gloria
  • Ariana Greenblatt as Sasha
  • Rhea Perlman as Ruth Handler, the inventor of Barbie
  • Ann Roth as an old woman who meets Barbie
  • Marisa Abela in an undisclosed role

The movie’s official Twitter account recently shared character posters for the Barbie cast, which you can see below:

Will Ferrell will also star as Mattel’s CEO. “It is, in my humble opinion, the ultimate example of high art and low art,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s a loving homage to the brand and, at the same time, couldn’t be more satirical. Just an amazing comment on male patriarchy and women in society and why Barbie’s criticized and yet why every little girl still wants to play with Barbie.”

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As for other stars working on the movie, the soundtrack list is ever-growing, which you can check out below:

Barbie plot: What is the movie about?

The official synopsis reads: “A doll living in Barbieland is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world.”

According to the above trailers, “If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you.” We see Barbie going through it, from being arrested, to getting flat feet, to figuring out the world’s relationship to Barbie, particularly girlhood’s relation to her. Meanwhile, the Mattel corporation is doing everything it can to wrangle her in.

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And according to IMDb, the movie’s runtime will be a classic blockbuster length of 1 hour and 54 minutes.

Greta Gerwig revealed to Vogue that Barbie is partially inspired by the 1994 bestselling book Reviving Ophelia, which discusses the way society can strip girls of self-actualisation: “They’re funny and brash and confident, and then they just – stop,” Gerwig explains. Part of the writing process was thinking “How is [Barbie’s] journey the same thing that a teenage girl feels? All of a sudden, she thinks, ‘Oh, I’m not good enough.'”

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The film will be putting Barbie – and women’s – inner-workings at the forefront, while Ken will kind of just be along for the ride. Though we have theorised that he could become the movie’s villain.

In a statement to BAFTA, star Margot Robbie revealed that when she first read the script, she thought it was almost too good to be true: “The first time I read the Barbie script, my reaction was, ‘Ah! This is so good. What a shame it will never see the light of day, because they are never going to let us make this movie.’ But they did.”

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However, when asked about any plot details, the actor said, “Can’t tell ya!”

No matter what the plot is, we can’t wait to enter that Barbie world and see what’s really going on.

That’s everything we know about the Barbie movie! Check back for more updates, and here’s a few of our other TV and movie hubs below:

The Batman Part II | Joker 2 | Harley Quinn Season 4 | Deadpool 3 | Fantastic Four | Avengers: The Kang Dynasty | Avengers: Secret Wars | Marvel Zombies | The Marvels | Agatha: Coven of Chaos | Venom 3 | Daredevil: Born Again | Blade MCU | Captain America 4 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

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