Ryan Gosling is reportedly being lined up to begin filling out the Barbie Cinematic Universe.
Park this one in unconfirmed, but industry insider Daniel Richtman is claiming that Warner Bros is already exploring the possibility of a Ken doll solo film to spin-off from Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie film. If you happened to read our story on toymaker Mattel and its quest for Hollywood supremacy, this will come as no surprise as the toy firm’s production company claims to have a whopping 45 projects in some form of development. Why shouldn’t one of them be a Ken movie?
Of course, there are lots of different answers to that question and with the recent news that Barbie director, Greta Gerwig is next headed to Netflix to make two Narnia films, there’s one point of view that some of our most talented creatives (be they Greta Gerwig, Ryan Gosling or whoever) are being sucked into a system where the pursuit of individual films with distinct voices are discouraged, much to the the detriment of cinema. Or perhaps this writer has just covered three stories about sequels this morning and is actually the one feeling discouraged.
Richtman has a pretty good track record with this kind of stuff but Warner Bros is savvy enough to keep this under the hat until after Barbie releases. Predicting blockbuster performance seems to be a tricky gambit at the moment, at least for the studios who commission them. After all, no studio goes into a tentpole production planning on losing hundreds of millions of dollars but that’s what we’re seeing happen lately in enough cases to characterise it as a trend. As such, Warners will likely reserve the announcement of a Ken film until Barbie proves to be a financial success. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.
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