Barbie | Screenwriter explains the reason for Sony's film failure

Before director Greta Gerwig and actress-producer Margot Robbie took the reins of the project at Warner, Sony Pictures attempted to adapt Barbie for the big screen. Today, it seems apparent that the original idea was destined to fail. According to screenwriter Diablo Cody, there are many reasons for this, from the cultural landscape of 10 years ago to the references the studio brought.

"When I was hired, the culture hadn't embraced the femme or the dumb blonde as valid feminist archetypes," she explained in an interview with GQ. "If you search for Barbie on TikTok, you'll find a whole subculture celebrating femininity. But in 2014, it was unreasonable to portray a blonde, white, and thin doll as a heroine."

The studio's intentions also didn't align with Barbie's own iconography, according to Cody. "They wanted a feminist girl-boss touch in Barbie, and I couldn't do that because Barbie isn't that." To add to it, the successful reference they brought was The Lego Movie, a film that achieved both commercial and critical success.

"It became a problem for me because they did it so well. Whenever I thought of something meta, it ended up being too similar to what they had done. It was an obstacle for me. But now enough time has passed, and they can even cast Will Ferrell as the antagonist in the Barbie movie, and no one cares."

It's worth noting that in the animation, the comedian also played a villainous executive who wants to control the dolls.

Cody isn't the first to revisit the project from 10 years ago. Comedian Amy Schumer, one of the many actresses considered for the lead role, also shared her thoughts on why the film didn't move forward. According to Schumer, the script wasn't "cool and feminist."

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling portray the "traditional" versions of Barbie and Ken in Barbie, while the cast also includes a variety of alternative versions of the dolls and other supporting characters played by Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Michael Cera (Juno), Issa Rae (Insecure), Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters), Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), John Cena (Fast & Furious), Will Ferrell (Elf), and more.

The film is directed by Greta Gerwig, known for Little Women and Lady Bird. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker also co-writes the screenplay alongside Noah Baumbach.