Mattel Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer “Masters of the Universe,” a live-action movie based on He-Man and a slew of other popular Mattel toys, is officially dead at Netflix, according to multiple Variety sources. Insiders said that close to $30 million has already been spent on development costs and the cash that’s been shelled out to hold on to talent – like previously announced lead Kyle Allen and the film’s heatseeking directing duo Adam and Aaron Nee (“The Lost City”). Other knowledgable sources estimate all-in costs for development at twice that figure. The latest headaches for He-Man and friends only further complicates the property’s torturous journey to the screen, one that goes as far back as 2007. It’s a long road that’s crossed through two other studios, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, and countless writers and directors like Jon M. Chu and McG. The latest implosion at Netflix, according to five individuals with knowledge of the project, was over budget concerns.

Greta Gerwig’s much-anticipated “Barbie” movie — which opens in theaters on Friday — “Insecure” actress Issa Rae brings some black power to the iconic doll’s pink world as President Barbie.But it was another African-American woman, Louvenia “Kitty” Black Perkins, who designed the first black Barbie — released in 1980 in a box that touted “She’s black! She’s beautiful! She’s dynamite!”Rather than the long, straight blond tresses and pastel-colored fashions of the traditional white Barbie, the brown-skinned beauty rocked short, curly black hair and a glittering red dress complete with matching dangling earrings.“Everything Barbie [typically] was, I wanted to do the opposite,” Black Perkins, now 75 and based in Los Angeles, told The Post. “I knew exactly how black women wear their hair, how their clothes were different from … all of Barbie’s ball gowns.“Basically,” she continued, “I wanted my black Barbie doll to look more like me.” Although Mattel had introduced a black Christie doll as Barbie’s friend in 1968 — and Cara would follow her in the ’70s — this was the first time an African-American bore the name of the leading lady herself.Not relegated to being an “accessory to Barbie,” this was a main-character creation that Black Perkins made on her way to becoming chief designer of the fashion doll line in the mid-’80s.Coming 21 years after Barbie made her debut in 1959, it was a barrier-breaking move for Mattel as doll demand was changing.“The collectors are the ones that really made a difference because every convention that they had, they were looking for black dolls,” said Black Perkins.

plays the real-life Barbie in the $100 million live-action “Barbie” movie coming to theaters on July 21.Depending on who a Barbie fan believes, however, the genuine, in-the-flesh Barbie who inspired the doll is either the late Barbie Ryan or the now 82-year-old Barbara Handler Segal.The two origin stories could not be more different. Either Barbie exists thanks to one man’s obsession with the “perfect woman” — or because of an apparently sweet story revolving around a mother’s love for her two children.But both come with far darker sides than the innocent child’s toy would suggest, including orgies, sex toys, embezzlement, AIDS, and suicide.The battle over who really inspired Barbie only exploded into the open decades after the doll made her debut at the International Toy Fair in New York in 1959.She was an immediate hit: 11 inches tall, long-legged, slim-waisted, perky-breasted and either blonde or brunette, dressed in a hand-made black and white swimsuit, and soon after advertised on The Mickey Mouse Club.

The Barbie movie is fast approaching — but titular star Margot Robbie didn’t know if it would ever come to fruition.  

Alex Jones made an announcement about The One Show at the end of the latest programme that featured a star-studded guest lineup. On Thursday night (June 13), the presenter and her co-host Roman Kemp were joined live on the green sofa by Margot Robbie and America Ferrera before Billy Porter completed the guest trio.

Will Ferrell is seen out with his entire family, but that's exactly what transpired Wednesday in London at the premiere.The 55-year-old funny man was seen out with his wife, Viveca Paulin, dressed to the nine alongside the couple's three sons — Magnus, 19, Mattias, 16, and Axel, 13. Ferrell almost looked like his character in Greta Gerwig's highly anticipated look inside Barbie Land, in which Ferrell plays a human.

Barbie film to be shown in the country’s cinemas, but have asked Hollywood distributors to blur the lines on a child-like drawing of a world map, which allegedly shows China’s disputed maritime claims.The film about the Mattel doll – directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – is set to open in the south-east Asian nation on July 19.The censors began examining Barbie last week after Vietnam reportedly banned the film over scenes featuring a map showing the so-called nine-dash line, which China uses to justify its claim to the South China Sea.Beijing claims territorial ownership over almost the entire South China Sea, despite rival claims from other south-east Asian countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.However, after “meticulous” scrutiny of the film, Philippine censors were satisfied that the “cartoonish map” did not depict the nine-dash line.“Instead, the map portrayed the route of the make-believe journey of Barbie from Barbie Land to the ’real world’, as an integral part of the story,” the censorship board said (via The Guardian).“Rest assured that the board has exhausted all possible resources in arriving at this decision as we have not hesitated in the past to sanction filmmakers/ producers/distributors for exhibiting the fictitious ’nine-dash line’ in their materials.”Despite being satisfied, the censors have still asked Hollywood studio Warner Bros. to “blur” the controversial lines on the map.

Margot Robbie has expressed her excitement for the upcoming Barbie movie, describing it as a celebration of "the real-life Barbie". The actress, who stars as the iconic doll alongside Ryan Gosling, praised director Greta Gerwig, stating that she is "everything" and "can do anything".

Molly-Mae Hague didn't hold back when it came to her latest public appearance as she put on a dazzling display at the UK's star-studded Barbie premiere. The European premiere of the new movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling took place on Wednesday night (July 12).

Will Ferrell‘s sons are all grown up!

America Ferrara is all in on “Barbie”.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Ashley Graham is looking back at her life as a Barbie doll. No, the supermodel isn’t in Greta Gerwig’s new “Barbie” movie, but Mattel made a doll in her likeness in 2016. “The first things that came to mind were thick thighs, lower belly fat, round arms [and] cellulite,” Graham recalls requesting of the toy company on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “And I got to do everything except for the cellulite. … Maybe it was too hard to figure out how to do that with the computer.” But Graham was very happy with the final product: “It wasn’t like, ‘Hi, Curvy Barbie.’ It was just Barbie.”

Margot Robbie took method acting to the bank on the set of Barbie.

Barbie for a lookalike joke that never made the cut.The actress, who plays the titular character in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming film, said in a new interview that for years she has been compared to the Sex Education star on looks.Robbie told Buzzfeed in the latest instalment of its ‘Puppies interviews’ series, which she took part in with her Barbie co-star Ryan Gosling, that she would just say thank you to fans who would tell her how much they enjoyed her in Sex Education.The mix-up, Robbie said, led to the idea of casting Mackey in Barbie.“[Mackey] plays one of the Barbies in the movie pretty much because Greta and I thought it would be funny. We were gonna do this whole joke about us looking similar,” Robbie said.But the joke didn’t make the cut because “once we got all dressed up as our Barbies, we were kind of like, ‘We don’t actually look that similar,'” Robbie said.

Comedy doesn’t always have the easiest time being taken seriously come Oscar season. Movies based on established toy brands don’t either. But, based on reaction to Sunday night’s huge world premiere at the Shrine in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as my own feelings watching it with the packed (6000+) crowd of first nighters, Barbie just may have the stuff to not only become a smash boxoffice hit this summer (I would now guarantee it) but also a surprising genuine awards contender for Warner Bros and Mattel (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence).

Margot Robbie channeled old Hollywood glamour, while hitting the pink carpet at the world premiere of “Barbie” in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jul. 9.

Lights, camera, crimp!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director When Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” finally opens in theaters later this month, it will mark the end of a long, long journey to get the iconic Mattel doll to the big screen. Sony Pictures originally had the rights to Barbie and spent years trying to get a movie off the ground. Actors such as Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway came and went. Schumer said last month that she exited her “Barbie” movie because the script wasn’t “feminist and cool” enough. Another talent that left “Barbie” during the film’s development at Sony was Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Juno.” She exited the film in 2018 and told ScreenCrush at the time, “I was literally incapable of turning in a ‘Barbie’ draft. God knows I tried.”

JJ Abrams will be making a live-action film about Hot Wheels cars.Following the news that Mattel plans to make more toy-inspired films after Barbie, the Star Wars director revealed some brief details about his own contribution to the upcoming roster of projects.“For a long time, we were talking to Mattel about Hot Wheels, and we couldn’t quite find the thing that clicked, that made it worthy of what Hot Wheels – that title – deserved,” Abams said in a “short, uncomfortable video” describing the new franchise, according to the New Yorker.“Then we came up with something… emotional and grounded and gritty.”The film has reportedly been in development for 20 years, before Dalton Leeb and Nicholas Jacobson-Larson were brought on board for the screenplay, which has yet to be written.The reaction online has ranged from excitement to confusion. “I’m excited for that.

Barbie, Mattel’s next film will focus on the brand’s beloved purple dinosaur, Barney.Said Barney film will see Get Out and Nope‘s Daniel Kaluuya serve as a producer, with the actor previously saying via a press statement: “Barney was a ubiquitous figure in many of our childhoods, then he disappeared into the shadows, left misunderstood. We’re excited to explore this compelling modern-day hero and see if his message of ‘I love you, you love me’ can stand the test of time.”While it unclear if Kaluuya will also star in the film, a Mattel Film executive has newly revealed in an interview with the New Yorker that the movie will take on a “surrealistic” approach geared towards adults.“We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” Mattel Films exec Kevin McKeon said about the Barney movie.

recent interview. “And Mattel was incredibly open to it.

A new Barney movie is in the works and it’s going to be geared for adults.

Barney is a dinosaur from our imagination — and from the mind of Daniel Kaluuya. The actor is set to star in and produce a movie about the large purple dinosaur … but it won’t be a children’s film.

Barney is embracing his inner Millennial.

the New Yorker. Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon told the publication that the movie will be “surrealistic.” “We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” McKeon, 38, said. “It’s really a play for adults.

Marta Balaga Before Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” there was “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.” “Mattel did pay a visit to our office,” said acclaimed producer Christine Vachon at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Back in 1987, she was helping out on the Todd Haynes and Cynthia Schneider-produced movie. The now-banned film, dedicated to Carpenter’s tragic life and her untimely passing, featured dolls instead of actors. “Todd bought all these toys in garage sales. There were Barbies, but also all these Barbie rip-offs, so he was able to prove to Mattel that it was off brand,” Vachon said in conversation with Variety international features editor Leo Barraclough.

The forthcoming Barney film from Mattel Films to be produced by and star Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya will be an adult-oriented, “A24-type” project, executive Kevin McKeon has revealed.

“Barbie” isn’t the only feature film based on a toy in the works at Mattel – far from it. But as audiences gear up to see how the Oscar-nominated director brings an artistic touch to the story of a toy doll, Mattel is also working on a “Barney” movie that one exec describes as “surrealistic” and not unlike the work of “Adaptation” and “Being John Malkovich” duo Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.“We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon told the New Yorker in a profile on the studio’s many projects that they have in development.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” gearing up for box office domination this month, the movie is being eyed as a launching pad for Mattel Films. The studio has dozens of more films in the pipeline based on its toys and popular IP, including a Barney movie with Daniel Kaluuya. The “Get Out” Oscar nominee and “Us” star first attached himself to Mattel’s Barney movie in 2019, and a new profile of Mattel Films published by The New Yorker confirms the project remains in development. Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon told The New Yorker that the Barney movie is “surrealistic” and in the vein of films directed by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze. Those directors are probably not the first two filmmakers one thinks of when the family-friendly Barney name comes up.

movie premiere in Seoul, South Korea.On July 2, perfectly recreated the pink and white double-breasted skirt suit worn by the doll, which was originally released by Mattel in 1985. Styled by , Robbie was all business in the pink Versace set with white accents and lapels, which was paired with a hot pink scarf blouse and matchy-matchy accessories, including a fully bedazzled Judith Leiber bag in the shape of an '80s-style cell phone.

Selome Hailu Ahead of the July 21 release of “Barbie,” Warner Bros. Discovery and Mattel have partnered with humanitarian organization Save the Children to launch a girls’ empowerment initiative. “Barbie” stars Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu and Will Ferrell appear in a text-to-donate PSA that will air across WBD’s linear, digital and social platforms to raise money for Save the Children, which is working to connect girls around the world to educational resources. Additionally, there will be an in-show integration on HGTV’s “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” as well as consumer activations through different brand partnerships and a charity auction that features tickets to the Los Angeles and London premieres of the movie.

Barbie.” Currently, you can pre-order a Barbie-themed Xbox that you can play in your Barbie painted home (part of the movie’s partnership with Backdrop paint) and sleep in a bed with Barbie pillows (as part of their partnership with online retailer Kitsch). And don’t forget to protect all that with a home insurance policy courtesy of Progressive, whose new commercial takes place in Barbie’s Dreamhouse! And that’s just the few that pop up on TV, Twitter and Instagram feeds in the last 48 hours. It’s not precisely known how many active “Barbie” partnerships are currently out there, but “Barbie” mania is upon us — and it’s impressing everyone in Hollywood.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The casual Oscar observer might wonder how some of the 398 new members invited to join the Academy’s ranks qualify for the honor that includes Oscar voting rights. From Taylor Swift to Warner Bros-Discovery CEO David Zaslav, it’s not always obvious how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decides who to invite as next year’s class of new members. Oscar winners are automatically invited to join the ranks after their big moment, so Billie Eilish was therefore eligable after she won the Oscar for the James Bond song “No Time to Die” (2021) with her brother Finneas.

The names Margot Robbie and Barbie are inextricably linked at this point, but the actress had one big ask before she agreed to play the titular doll in Greta Gerwig‘s upcoming movie.

The stars of Barbie are opening up about the making of the movie!

Margot Robbie had a dealbreaker when it came to agreeing to star in the upcoming “Barbie” film.