Barbie is a 2023 American fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she wrote with Noah Baumbach.[3] Based on the Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel, it is the first live-action Barbie film after numerous computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming television films. The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, who go on a journey of self-discovery after their expulsion from the utopia Barbie Land, alongside a large ensemble cast that includes America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. A live-action Barbie film was first announced in September 2009 by Universal Pictures with Laurence Mark producing, but development began in April 2014, when Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to the character. Following multiple writer and director changes and the casting of Amy Schumer and later Anne Hathaway in the titular role, Sony lost the rights, which were transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures in October 2018, with Robbie being cast in 2019. Gerwig was announced as director and co-writer with Baumbach in 2021. Gosling and the rest of the cast were announced in early 2022. Filming took place primarily at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England from March to July 2022.
