The Barbie Promotional Tour

Other people have also noticed

Greta Gerwig always looks frumpy

Is this movie going to have a plot?

[quote] Three more weeks to go.

Fuck me really? Once they started painting random Airbnb's pink and getting 6000 articles for that I thought it was due out in a few days. Anyway yeah at this point it to do badly due to the scale of the ad campaign I'm being subjected to.

It never ends!

He has a weird-shaped headlike that of Bert of Sesame Street.

I’m already sick of this movie and it’s not even out yet.

Margot’s production company is behind it. It’s crucial for her acting career that this film does well.

So will it be a flop or a hit in the making? So far, it’s expected to bring in $80-100 million in its opening weekend.

Margot is working overtime promoting this film. She can't afford for it to flop. She's still 33 (a hard looking one) but she's been in some flops and Hollywood loves replacing actresses. Ryan doesn't need to worry like she does.

I don't know anyone who wants to see this. Straight men aren't going to see this. Little boys won't. It's mainly going to women and girls and I don't hear anything about them wanting to see it

Really Really Stupid idea for a movie .

I have no idea based on the trailers who the intended audience is supposed to be for this. While women and little girls are likely the targeted demographic, there are already women online claiming that beneath all those layers of pink is just more woke propaganda.

Since the promotional tour began overseas, they’re probably hoping it makes most of its money in international markets. I think it’s very telling that Greta has done little to no interviews so far.

Garbo rarely gives interviews.

If it was a regular CGI kids movie with some subtle adult humor mixed in. It would probably make a lot of money. Look at Mario Bros and what a huge hit that was. L

R11: It really is the truth. Mediocre white men get work no matter what. Margot, on the other hand, knows that the new 20 something blonde ingenue is just around the corner. Her last two films were flops and both were described as "star-studded." She's almost 35 and let's just say studios won't be giving her first dibs on everything when she's in her 40s.

Oh God I just realized what this reminds me of

The 1994 live action adaptation of The Flintstones

Absolutely massive promotional campaign. I still remember it and I was 11. And exact same situation: they took a nostalgic children’s IP, spent a fortune on practical sets and costumes, and beat the meta humor with a mallot into your brain (“Univershell Pictures” logo over the globe of Pangaea.)

By the time it opened (to bad reviews) people were going to see it out of a sense of obligation because they had promoted it so heavily. Fifth highest grossing picture of that year but no one really liked it.

Why do Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie look like hostages being paraded in front of cameras by a hostile foreign government, whenever they make appearances these days? Ryan Gosling is the only one who seems to be having fun.

Ryan Goaling

Maybe Taylor Swift's fans will be the audience.

I still can’t believe they got Elizabeth Taylor for Pearl Slaghoop.

She looks nothing like Barbie.

[quote]Maybe Taylor Swift's fans will be the audience.

In all seriousness, you're probably right about that. Robbie was very good in I, Tonya and if anyone ever looked like Barbie, it's her. Maybe if there's enough wry adult humor to keep everyone else entertained while the TS fans are fawning over Barbie's outfit changes, it will be okay. But it doesn't look terribly interesting & it has Will Ferrell=Box Office Poison, so I don't know..

There are a couple of Barbie collectors on YouTube whose reviews I’m looking forward to.

Oppenheimer billboards just going up

Margot looks like young Denise Richards.

Young?

Margo is on the edge of being too old to pull it off

I can't remember the last time a movie got so much pre-release PR buzz. I assumed it was already in theaters not still 3 weeks out!

She too old.

And she, "Ken," the casting director, and the studio should APOLOGIZE for casting actors TOO OLD and TOO NON-AMERICANS in their film.

I wonder if East and South Asians and diehard Barbie obsessives will stay away in droves and write entire think pieces on why this Barbie movie FLOPPED because the two actors were too old--Barbie and Ken are around 19-26, not mid-30s. Plus B&K had that whole infectious lighthearted vapid South California aesthetic particular to that time and place, that one CANNOT get from Non Americans acting the parts.

Ryan bores me and he looks absolutely nothing like Ken. He's too weird looking and horse faced. He is not a box office draw yet somehow is still considered A-list. Blade Runner 2049 and First Man were back to back big budget flops.

I am anticipating an initial flurry of interest opening weekend, followed by "disappointing returns." And a giant financial loss. (It won't be alone: this will be the summer of "disappointing returns" for all the big budget movies.)

And a shitload of heavily discounted movie tie-in merchandise, for you Barbie doll collectors out there.

R32, other than his horse face, what do you find weird looking about Ryan?

Picky picky. 1) I don't think they tried to be realistic for age and looks when casting humans to play BARBIE DOLLS. The trick will be how they perform despite the ridiculousness. 2) I would lick Ryan's shitter and most of you would, too.

r34 That's a great question. I'm not saying he's ugly or unattractive, but he just doesn't have a face I like to look at... average, forgettable and not my idea of a leading actor. There's also something Canadian going on, like a male version of Alanis Morissette.

r35 And yet for some reason Margot looks very much like Barbie. Perhaps if both Barbie and Ken were miscast, the issues with Ryan's face would be less obvious.

Same situation in 1995 when Universal and Amblin pulled out Casper the Friendly Ghost from the bottom of the toy chest. Gigantic promotional campaign. Movie opened to poor reviews but was still a decent hit (sixth highest of 1995).

Now here’s the something to watch. The Flintstones was criticized for basically being 100% meta, visual humor and stunt casting (does anyone remember the plot?) and people did not know who it was for. Children did not like it. So Universal corrected course with Casper, made it a more traditional narrative family film with some meta humor (Dan Akroyd shows up), but people still found the tone off and didn’t know what to make of it. It’s not well remembered today.

So I’m bringing this up because the tone of Barbie seems to be entirely meta. For gods sake, it includes a shot by shot homage to 2001. So who is this movie for? Is it okay to take your children to? Is it just for adults who enjoy snark and irony? I don’t understand who the target is.

I have one more comparison which is…

Thank you, R36.

Maybe he's Mystery Date Ken

…The 2012 Warner Bros. promotional campaign for “Magic Mike”.

If you have seen Magic Mike, you’ll actually know it’s a pretty dour, unsexy film. It was intended to be quite dark (half the film ended up being cut, if you wonder why Alex Pettyfer was pissed it wasn’t the bs about stiffing Channing Tatum’s friend, it’s because they cut most of his scenes.). But Warner Bros bought the film while it was already in production, and realized that they could reconfigure the movie as a fun girls night out, and made trailers like the one below. Magic Mike opened pre-fourth of July holiday so it’s extended opening weekend was $52 million and between weekend 1 and 2 pulled in about 3/4 of its total domestic gross of $110 million. And then it tapered off because people really didn’t know what to make of the film. It wasn’t the sexy comedy they advertised, it was this dark, kind of boring indie film where everyone mumbles.

So this is where I think Barbie is headed. The movie is promoting itself as everything to everyone but in the end it’s just going to confuse a lot of people.

Ken's going to be gay, isn't he?

I think the Tom Cruise movie will do well. Oppenheimer and Barbie will be disappointing.

Which Tom Cruise movie?

I think it’s going to be a hit. Women and gay men love Barbie. I’m going to see it because it’s a little bit of fun in a very depressing world.

r44 another Mission Impossible film. I go to the actual movie theater twice a year so I am a poor one to judge, I am to the point where I just wait until they come to streaming. Back in the day it would take a year for a movie to get to HBO, now it can be just a few weeks until they are streaming.

It's not a documentary, r31.

Thank you, R46.

I can see this either becoming a beloved cult hit or a big piece of shit that everybody promptly forgets about.

I can see that the actress is attractive but to me she doesn't have the special *it* factor. Maybe I am stuck in the 80's but it seemed like people back then were more magnetic, heck I didn't even like Julia Roberts but she had the star power thing going on, same for Madonna. Today's celebrities (maybe because of the internet) don't seem to have the same star power.

Barbie was my life as a kid. I have zero desire to see this movie.

Greta Gerwig gets a free pass forever because of Lady Bird, which is a beautiful, beautiful film. She’s a smart director, that treats her material with seriousness and an acute intelligence, and I expect that Barbie is going to turn out to be a film for adults even though it might not be unsuitable for children.

Based on the trailer, I assume its going to be a metaphysical treatise on the importance of fantasy and play; much like the twist at the end of The Lego Movie, but with Barbie and extended to the length of an entire film.

But the last film I was enthused to see at the cinema was The Super Mario Bros movie, which turned out to be a beautifully-scored piece of shit. Don’t let me down, Greta!

Yes I know we should be inclusive blah blah blah but it looks like they overdo trying to cover all the bases on this movie zzzzzzzzzz

Gerwig's version of Little Women was highly overrated and botched many of the major story lines (Meg marries boring nerd John, Beth's long illness & death and don't even get me started on Timmy as Laurie). So there's that

Yeah, R47; neither was The Little Mermaid.

I was going to take my five year old grand-niece to it, but my nephew said it wasn't age appropriate for her. So, we'll see another movie soon.

[quote]Yeah, [R47]; neither was The Little Mermaid.

Did anybody say it was, r55?

[quote]I think it’s going to be a hit. Women and gay men love Barbie.

While I mostly agree, it raises another question....

Can gay men make a movie a hit? It feels like we could in the past. But I'm hard pressed to think of a box office hit (vs just a cult favorite) in the past decade that relied on a gay male audience to "make it." Gay men did not rally behind BROS and a few other gay-themed movies in recent years, and BROS was a major commercial disappointment. Same with several big-screen musicals in recent years: the WEST SIDE STORY remake, IN THE HEIGHTS, etc. were disappointments.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN surpassed expectations. But that was back in 2005, 18 years ago.

This may even deserve its own thread.

Do gay men really like Barbie though? That seems like an exaggeration to me. I never thought much about a doll. Much less have a desire to see a movie based on a toy. I also was always under the impression that little gay boys are drawn to a Barbie because it's a "forbidden fruit." I used to torture Barbies personally as a little kid.

“Women and gay men will make it a hit” That’s exactly my point with the Magic Mike comparison. They’re targeting the same audience. But will it actually meet expectations?

[quote] I used to torture Barbies personally as a little kid.

Barbie used to torture me!

*

Someone on Twitter commented a couple of days ago that the Oppenheimer campaign seems to consist of Universal just dropping new stills of Cillian Murphy every day.

That does indeed seem to be what is happening. They just released this:

The PG-13 rating is very telling. I think more men than we think are going to see this.

If the rumors are true, they better hurry up with that sequel because yes she is one hard looking 33 year old.

I think it'll have a reasonably good opening weekend but then quickly disappear in three weeks.

In the few photos and videos I've seen of the promo tour, I think Margot is actually the one that looks enthusiastic and energized. Ryan looks exhausted and bored.

Ryan’s contract must’ve included generous box office points, because even if he looks bored and/or embarrassed at every promotional event, he continues to show up. He looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die at the Mexico City event.

This movie will be a flop. There are already countless animated Barbie movies that fulfill any Barbie movie requirements with Barbie characters that actually look like Barbie.

R69: If that turns out to be the case, will Margot and Ryan still get offered everything?

Margot has everything to gain/lose with the relative success of BARBIE. As pointed out previously, she's coming off a string of bombs/disappointments. She's 33. It's make or break time, unfortunately.

Gosling is enough of a known quantity in Hollywood that he will continue to get good scripts and offers. Despite the fact that he's 9 years older and has at least as many bombs/disappointments as Robbie.

Hollywood continues to be a man's world, mostly.

Can’t stand Greta Gerwig, sorry Margot but I hope it flops. When Jennifer Jason Leigh was pregnant Greta had an affair with her husband Noah Baumbach the director and he left her for Greta. Noah made Greta’s way for her to have this career, Greta should have got more blowback for this.

In "progressive and enlightened" Hollywood of 2023, Greta Gerwig checks a lot of boxes for the aging male showbiz suits: she's youngish (she's actually 39, but many assume she's 5-10 years younger), she makes Gen Z-friendly, feminist films (LITTLE WOMEN), she's still regarded as a NYC hipster with cool mumblecore/indie acting credits (even though most of those films are deservedly forgotten).

She's a Hollywood insider but in the fashionable pose of an outsider and iconoclast. The suits love that.

I liked LADY BIRD a lot. And (mostly) enjoyed her performance in FRANCES HA. But she has yet to really wow me outside of that.

The more photos I see of Margot dressed in Barbie costumes, the less I think she looks like Barbie.

Margot should have been blonder with no dark roots

Gosling looks over it.

How much more of the Barbie Bataan Death March is left? Are they doing Asian/Australia/Latin America?

I thought Barbie was supposed to be pretty.

R76: She looks pretty tired herself.

R66 nails it.

Greta Gerwig is a nasty witch

I’m going on a promo the first week of August.

She never seems to keep her roots up

OK SAGAFTRA strike means the publicity tour is probably over or significantly affected.

Would explain the massive early launch.

It's over. They can't promote anymore with the strike.

Thank goodness. It was all starting to become…A LOT. Now they can all just ride the fumes to a massive opening.

They’re probably hoping the massive early campaign results in the film making most of its money quickly before any possible negative word of mouth starts.

R86 is probably right. There’s a review embargo in-place until July 18th, and there was at least a full month of daily press before the SAG strike put a hold on everything.

Warner Bros has figured out how to promote the movie despite the strike

Barbie will be another disappointment. The reviews will be generally positive but it won't be a good movie. It's trying to do too much, with too many characters and lacks focus. The clips they've released are generally amusing but not great or funny enough. I predict it will open really big, then once word of mouth starts spreading will sink fairly quickly. Ultimately, It will break even or turn a small profit.

Barbie is going to be a cult classic. After a decade of superhero trash and garbage, we need a fun dose of this.

I did like Ken's song, I forget Ryan was in the Mickey Mouse Club with Britney, Justin, and Christina A

Gosling can be annoying but he is talented. He has a decent enough voice (certainly enough for BARBIE, if challenged by LA LA LAND) and he can actually dance.

I could see it becoming a cult classic in ten years. Anyway I'm glad the world tour is over. I'm sick of seeing Margot and I'm sick of seeing Ryan.

There's a female director involved so no critic is going to dare give this thing anything less than glowing praise. I think it's possible that the film drops considerably in the second and third weeks as word of mouth spreads about how unrealistic and hyper politically correct it is.

Barbie will drop 70% the second week. Also, I think it will gross between $50-70 million in its opening weekend and not $80-100 million as some are claiming.

Isn't he adorable?

R95 Tickets are already bought dumbass.

1000 times better kid dancer than Timotay Calamitit

Any gay rumors about ryan gislings?

R99, it’s Ryan Quisling.

No Miss Cleos in this thread that's for sure. Could you be any more wrong about a film and its earning potential?

To be fair, R101 I remember listening to Anne Thompson when the trailer hit, and she was cautious about its box office potential because she wasn't sure "who this movie was for." Well it's about to hit out hit a billion dollars worldwide. Barbie is the Top Gun Maverick of this year.

the I'm Just Ken song is stuck in my head, pretty catchy