'Barbie' Movie With Margot Robbie Being Written By Greta Gerwig And Noah Baumbach

The Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie has found two new writers, and they're definitely not who you'd expect: Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. The Frances Ha and Mistress America team will work together yet again to pen the script for the toy adaptation. There's also a chance Gerwig might direct, although there's no deal for that yet.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that no one saw this coming. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, the team that wrote indie films Frances Ha and Mistress America, have been hired by Warner Bros. to bring Barbie to life. According to THR and Variety, Gerwig is also eyeing the project as her next directing gig. Margot Robbie is set to star in the film, as well as produce.

Hollywood has been trying to assemble a Barbie movie for several years now. The adaptation was originally at Sony, with both Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway attached at one point to star. The project eventually moved to Warner Bros., at which point it was rumored that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins might helm.

Bringing in Gerwig and Baumbach to handle this material is certainly a choice. It indicates that Warner Bros. is willing to try something new with this adaptation, and are hoping to add a whole new dimension to the property, which is based on the doll launched by Mattel in 1959. I'm honestly having a hard time believing this news, but I suppose stranger things have happened. I'm a big fan of Gerwig and Baumbach's work together – Frances Ha is a masterpiece, and while people don't seem to talk about it as much, I also love Mistress America.

Gerwig made her solo directorial debut with the widely acclaimed Lady Bird. This year, she has a star-studded adaptation of Little Women due out. Baumbach has a film due this year too – a still-untitled Netflix project starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. This might actually result in Gerwig and Baumbach going head-to-head at the Academy Awards, should both films garner awards season love.

The question now is: how do you make a movie about Barbie? One can assume the film will be comedic, perhaps even satirical, based on the people involved. I'm at a bit of a loss on how this will all turn out, but bringing in Gerwig and Baumbach immediately makes my interest in the Barbie movie go from very low to very high.