Margot Robbie Predicted ‘Barbie’ Would ‘Make a Billion Dollars’ in Early Pitch Meeting

Margot Robbie always knew Barbie would be a hit.

The actress stars as the titular Mattel doll in the Greta Gerwig-directed film, which just crossed $1 billion at the global box office. Robbie also serves as a co-producer on Barbie alongside husband Tom Ackerley plus David Heyman and Mattel Films Executive Producer Robbie Brenner.

Before Barbie achieved its box-office milestone, which the film clinched just over two weeks after its release, Robbie, 33, told Collider, “I think my pitch in the green-light meeting was the studios have prospered so much when they’re brave enough to pair a big idea with a visionary director.”

One example she gave in “naming anything that’s been incredible and made a ton of money for the studios over the years” was “dinosaurs and [Steven] Spielberg.”

“And I was like, ‘And now you’ve got Barbie and Greta Gerwig,’ ” Robbie said. “And I think I told them that it’d make a billion dollars, which maybe I was overselling, but we had a movie to make, okay?!”

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Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie at a celebration for Barbie in Sydney on June 30, 2023.

Hanna Lassen/Getty Images

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Featuring an extensive star-studded cast led by Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie passed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales on Sunday, making Gerwig the first female director to hit this box office milestone as a solo director.

Barbie became Warner Bros. Pictures’ biggest-selling film for a Monday ever following its $155 million domestic opening weekend, and the industry’s biggest opening weekend for a movie directed by a woman.

The movie’s success has led Mattel, the toy company that owns the Barbie brand, to make plans to adapt 14 additional Mattel properties — including a Polly Pocket movie, directed by Lena Dunham and starring Lily Collins — for the silver screen.

Other Mattel movie projects with directors, actors or notable producers attached include a Hot Wheels film produced by J.J. Abrams, a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie starring Vin Diesel, the Daniel Kaluuya-led Barney film and a Major Matt Mason movie starring Tom Hanks.

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in Barbie (2023).

Warner Bros.

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Both Gerwig, 40, and Robbie have spoken out about the possibility of more Barbie movies in the future, with the director telling PEOPLE for the special Barbie issue that she hopes her film “is the launch of a world and a bunch of different Barbie movies.”

“There’s a tone and a humor and a joy, and obviously the world is so beautiful,” Gerwig added. “I want to go back to Barbie Land.”

As for Robbie, the two-time Oscar nominee said during a cover interview with TIME magazine published in June, “I think you fall into a bit of a trap if you try and set up a first movie whilst also planning for sequels.”

Still, she has been part of conversations about what the future holds for Barbie in terms of a cinematic experience to follow the first movie. “It could go a million different directions from this point,” Robbie said.

Barbie is in theaters now.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education