Anne Hathaway is currently in negotiations with Sony and Mattel to star as Barbie in the upcoming movie. The movie is scheduled for release June 29, 2018. Previously, Amy Schumer was cast to play Barbie and production was set to start June 23. She was to collaborate with her sister to work on the script as well. In March, Schumer announced she would not be able to star in the film due to scheduling conflicts.
Anne Hathaway is now looking at her schedule and working with Sony to come to an agreement. According to The Hollywood Reporter , Anne Hathaway named a fairly new director, Althea Jones to direct the film. Jones’ directorial debut, Fun Mom Dinner , premieres on Netflix and in theaters on August 4, 2017. Jones is also talking with Sony.
However, as far as the director and the star of the show are concerned, nothing is set in stone yet. The studio would not comment on the negotiations. As of now, no deal has been reached, and there is no production start date.
Anne Hathaway has starred in a variety of movies, including family movies. One such movie is The Princess Diaries, where she played the awkward nerd who learns she is a princess. So moving to the family sector will not be such a big leap for her.
Although beautiful, like Schumer, Hathaway is not the stereotypical Barbie, she has dark hair and dark eyes and is not a size zero. This works in her favor, as the film is said to deal with body image and imperfection. The film centers on Barbie not being perfect and thus not fitting in at Barbieland. Barbie goes to the real world, where people are not perfect, and finds she can fit in.
This storyline is in sync with the recent attempts to change the Barbie image. In the past, Mattel has received much criticism concerning how Barbie sets an unrealistic standard for young girls to be thin and perfect. In 2016, Mattel set out to change Barbie’s message and released a new line of Barbie dolls featuring four body types and a variety of skin tones, hairstyles, and eye colors.
Both women have also spoken out against negative body image. Hathaway shared an empowering message in April.
“There is no shame in gaining weight during pregnancy (or ever).”
[Featured Image by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images]