Greta Gerwig to direct Margot Robbie's Barbie film in 2022

Oscar-nominated filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig's next project will be a film about Barbie, starring Margot Robbie. The film is set to be a live-action collaboration between Mattel and Warner Bros.

It was previously reported that Gerwig would be involved in the film's writers' room alongside her partner Noah Baumbach. Since then, rumours have swirled that Gerwig had been eyed to direct the project, but the deal wasn’t officially done. However, Robbie has since revealed in an interview with British Vogue that Gerwig was also to be helming the forthcoming movie.

"People generally hear 'Barbie' and think, 'I know what that movie is going to be,' and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they're like, 'Oh, well, maybe I don't."' Robbie says.

Details of the plot remain under wraps, but Robbie previously told Variety that the movie serves as “a great opportunity to put some positivity out in the world and a chance to be aspirational for younger kids.”

The production is aiming for a 2023 release, with filming taking place in London in early 2022.

The project will be Gerwig's third directorial and her first project since her acclaimed adaptation of Little Women. The creative first found success with her breakout feature, 2017’s Lady Bird. The Saoirse Ronan-starring project and 2019's. Little Women racked up a combined 11 Oscar nominations and one win, including a nod for Best Director (making Gerwig one of seven women ever nominated).

In addition to starring in the movie, Robbie also produces the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment production banner, which is coming off its own Oscar-winning run for 2020’s Promising Young Woman.

Margot Robbie’s live-action ‘BARBIE’ movie, which Greta Gerwig will write & direct, is set to begin filming in early 2022 for a planned 2023 theatrical release.

(Source: https://t.co/ropXokbqhv) pic.twitter.com/xJio4DFpLx

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 9, 2021