This live-action Barbie movie feels like a trap. “But it’s feminist!,” its makers cry, assuring skeptics that a multinational corporation like Mattel would totally greenlight a genuinely subversive big-budget take on one of its most valuable brands. The fact that the film has been in development for the past four years, and has cycled through a number of writers, directors, and stars in that time, isn’t especially encouraging, either. At the moment, the Barbie movie is without a star, director, or studio—Sony’s option for the film passed a while ago, reverting the rights back to Mattel—and has six credited screenwriters. That doesn’t include Amy Schumer, whose new draft of Diablo Cody’s rewrite of Jenny Bicks’ script was apparently displeasing to either Sony or Mattel executives.
Now, though, as Variety reports, there’s some movement on the first part of that equation. Margot Robbie, the unfortunate subject of one of the creepiest magazine profiles in recent memory, is in talks to take over for Anne Hathaway, who took over for Schumer in the lead role. Robbie has a first-look deal with Warner Bros., but Variety says that the project is currently without a studio home. Deadline also previously reported that Patty Jenkins was in talks to direct pending Robbie’s involvement, but that turned out not to be true, either.
There’s still some time to sort this thing out before its new release date of May 8, 2020 (pushed back from June of this year), but don’t be surprised if it gets pushed back again.