How Margot Robbie Used Jurassic Park To Get Studios On Board With Barbie
Granted, it was somewhat of a foregone conclusion that Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" was going to find success at the box office. Seeing just how much of a gargantuan hit it has already become was entirely unexpected, however. Comparisons to some of the biggest blockbusters of all time would have been premature before "Barbie" blasted into theaters to set multiple records, but there's no denying now that Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have a monster hit on their hands. They might as well paint the Hollywood sign pink at this point.
As a producer from early on in the process, Robbie couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario where this version of Barbie Land could have been received with more acclaim that it already has. In another career-defining role, it really seems like this was the part Robbie was meant to play, and she's helped shepherd the project from the very beginning. Before director Greta Gerwig was even attached, Robbie was out pounding the pavement trying to convince the major studios to take a big swing with an original take on the classic kids' doll.
From the first series of pitches, Robbie was dreaming big trying to convince the higher ups that the potential for a smart take on Barbie had a massive up-side. To get Warner Bros. to fall in line with her vision for the film, Robbie compared "Barbie" to one of the biggest summer blockbusters of all time. Steven Spielberg ushered in a new era in Hollywood with "Jaws" and then did it all over again when he brought dinosaurs back to life with "Jurassic Park." Now, thanks to Robbie's efforts in the early stages, it's Barbie's turn. And she's doing it all in heels (or Birkenstocks, whichever you prefer).
Hot pink gets the green-light
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."