Looking for the next Transformers or The LEGO Movie, Sony’s search for the next big toy movie has brought it to Mattel’s Barbie. Closing a partnership with Mattel, Sony hopes to start a franchise based on the children’s popular toy starting with a live action comedy that’ll reflect Barbie’s more empowering qualities. With a script in the works from Jenny Bicks (The Big C), the film will take a young cast and “use [Barbie]’s personal and professional skills to step into the lives of others and improve them, almost like a modern day Mary Poppins.”
Although Mattel has released thousands of Barbie animated films to home video, this is the first time something like this has gone down. I’m curious as to what will come of this. Sure the Barbie name has a few stigmas, but done the right way, we could get more of a Lisa Lionheart than a Malibu Stacy.
[Deadline, via Collider]