At first glance, partnering with Mattel to make a “Barbie” movie seems like a formula for success with ample potential for marketing opportunities and merchandise tie-ins. In theory, studios should’ve been lining up to fill their pockets with cash. But after 60-plus years of existence, there had never been a live-action “Barbie” movie before, and only a handful of successful examples of how to make an original film based on a popular toy really work without looking like an extravagant commercial in disguise.
Robbie used Spielberg and “Jurassic Park” to elevate “Barbie” in the eyes of studio execs that still needed a little convincing. Speaking with Collider, she went into a little more detail:
“I think my pitch in the green-light meeting was the studios have prospered so much when they’re brave enough to pair a big idea with a visionary director. And then I gave a series of examples like, ‘dinosaurs and [Steven] Spielberg,’ that and that, that and that. Pretty much naming anything that’s been incredible and made a ton of money for the studios over the years. And I was like, ‘And now you’ve got Barbie and Greta Gerwig.'”
In retrospect, it doesn’t seem like it would’ve been a massive risk for Universal when they gave Spielberg and the VFX wizards over at ILM the go-ahead to make “Jurassic Park” back in the early ’90s. For someone like Robbie, who was there trying to get “Barbie” going from the start, it’s easier for her to envision what it was like at that initial pitch meeting, before Spielberg and company turned their DNA dino concept into a multi-billion dollar franchise.
“Can you imagine that first meeting? They’re like, ‘Dinosaurs? I don’t know, I mean, yeah? That might turn out kind of silly,'” remarked Robbie. “And then here we are decades later being like, “That’s the greatest movie ever.”
Source From: www.slashfilm.com
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