Greta Gerwig Says Barbie Couldn't Have Been Made Without Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman
"Barbie" is a phenomenon like no other. There were hardly any precedent for a cinematic world built exclusively on a world-famous IP like Mattel, save for a previous attempt at a big-screen "Barbie" adaptation that never came to fruition. When filmmaker Greta Gerwig decided to bring this colorful, fantastical world to life with the intention of adding her own complexities to it, it was a risky gambit that succeeded in accomplishing something never done before. "Barbie" has made more than $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office so far, becoming the highest-grossing movie from a female director in cinematic history.
In the latest issue of Empire, Gerwig talked about the process of crafting such an enjoyable and empowering story that functioned within the confines of a $150 million budget attached to a major brand. While "Barbie" was still a major risk for Mattel and Warner Bros. Pictures, Gerwig credits another female filmmaker with making such an ambitious project possible:
"There was absolutely nothing to point to before — we weren't able to use anything as what they call a 'comp'. That's how they build budgets, and they assess risk. I know we wouldn't have been able to make this movie had Patty Jenkins not made 'Wonder Woman'. But at the same time, we weren't able to use 'Wonder Woman' as an example, because superheroes are their own category. You can't use Disney Princesses because that's its own category. This didn't really have a thing that we could point to.
"Now this is a comp that other people can use and say, 'Well, it works here.' It's a female character, and it's a comedy, and Noah [Baumbach] and I wrote it, lady director, all of these things — it's big, and that worked. So hopefully with other female characters looking forward, that helps."
Creating a whole new category
While "Wonder Woman" was proof that a female-led blockbuster could sweep the box office and impress audiences with its uncompromising core identity, "Barbie" did not belong to an established Hollywood trend. It did, however, have the appeal of something never done successfully before, and the onus was on Gerwig (and Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote the screenplay with her) to make the impossible happen. Gerwig talked about the need to craft a whole new category that could appeal to audiences, and convince studios to take risks with other filmmakers:
"...One thing that goes beyond even gender — it's weird! It's a wonderfully weird movie! It's not like anything else. It is odd. The recognition that people are interested made me feel very wonderful ... We're all open to different, strange things — maybe even more open than studios necessarily assume. I think that there's room to have movies that are female-driven and -led, but also things that are just dancing to their own beat. It's possible. So I hope that for women, and filmmakers, and also for moviemakers who have a strange dream."
This wasn't easy, of course. Gerwig had to fight for certain creative decisions that were obvious and natural to her, but sounded a little baffling when presented to the studio and Mattel. Fortunately, the director says, "it is very easy to fight for what you love" — a sentiment that allowed her to bat for the most wonderfully strange sequences, including the Ken dream ballet that is now ardently adored. While Gerwig had to contend with a lot of "whys" and "hows" along the way, she was confident enough in her vision to bring it to life in the most beautiful way.
"Barbie" is now available for home viewing on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and Digital.