Barbie Trailer Is Playing Before Screenings of Avatar: The Way of Water

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As if the opening weekend of Avatar: The Way of Water couldn’t bring us more exciting news. Not only do we return to Pandora, and not only do IMAX audiences also get treated to a four-minute featurette on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, but news has just emerged that could possibly top the lot. We are getting our first look at Greta Gerwig’s upcoming masterpiece, Barbie. The film was written by Gerwig and her partner, Noah Baumbach.

Reports are emerging from screenings of The Way of Water this evening that the trailer, which shows off Margot Robbie as the iconic character based on the Mattel doll, and Ryan Gosling as her other half, Ken, has been playing ahead of the movie and my goodness, fans are getting excited. (And for good reason!)

The anticipation for the film is genuinely reaching fever pitch at this stage, and what an absolutely genius marketing ploy to attach it to the most highly-anticipated film of the year. What better way to get eyes on your product than sticking it to the sequel to the highest-grossing film in history? Social media was ablaze when initial images of Robbie and particularly Gosling were released back in June, but the hype will be building to nearly unsustainable levels.

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Gerwig, nominated for an Academy Award for her work on Little Women three years ago, has compiled an all-star cast that, at first, almost seemed like a satire. However, slowly, fans have been drip-fed salivating soundbites from the cast, including Gosling who labelled the script “the best” he had ever read. “Best script I’ve ever read. I walk out in the backyard [after getting the offer] and, do you know where I found Ken?” Gosling said, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “[A Ken doll] face down in the mud next to a squished lemon. I texted [the photo] to Greta and said, ‘I shall be your Ken, for this story must be told.’”

The Barbie cast also includes America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Issa Rae and Michael Cera, while Will Ferrell has signed on as the CEO of Mattel, believed to be a potential antagonist for the film. Alexandre Desplat will score the film, having worked with Gerwig previously on Little Women.

Barbie is scheduled to open in theaters on July 21, 2023.