“Barbie” is now available to stream on Max from your own Dreamhouse (or Mojo Dojo Casa House).
Max announced that Greta Gerwig’s sparkly pink fantasy comedy would hit the streamer on Dec. 15, a few months after “Barbie’s” July 21 theatrical release date. There will also be an American Sign Language version available.
Earning over $1.4 billion at the global box office, “Barbie” is not only the highest grossing film of 2023 — but the highest grossing Warner Bros. movie in history. The film follows Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie, who is joined by Ryan Gosling’s Ken, on her adventure outside of Barbieland and into the real world, where she encounters Mattel executives and faces the realities of womanhood. Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Michael Cera and Issa Rae round out the star-studded cast.
“Barbie” took over the music charts as well with hits like Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?,” which won the Grammy for Song of the Year and of course, Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken,” which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Overall, the film earned eight Oscar nominations, including for best picture, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, screenwriting, costume design and production design.
Grounded in research and feedback from the Deaf community, as well as counsel from community leaders, the ASL version of “Barbie” was produced for Max featuring ASL performerLeila Hanaumi. It will be displayed as a unique title in-app and can be identified by its key art with the sign language symbol.
The film was produced by Robbie through her production company LuckyChap, who approached Gerwig to write the script. Bringing along Noah Baumbach to pen the film with her, Gerwig accepted Robbie’s proposal. In a recent panel conversation, Gerwig discussed her nerves while taking on her first big-budget production: “It was a risk for the studio to make it and for Mattel to make it. And it’s also, as a ‘lady director’ and a lady thing and it’s a big risk for a lady — in that context, I wanted it to work because I wanted to maybe make it easier for whatever the next thing is.”
On PvNew’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Gerwig also revealed that she did not expect “Barbie” to gain such a loyal following. “Nobody told anyone to wear pink. It just happened on its own. I think it corresponded with some need. People had to be together and experience something communally,” she said.
