Barbie already secured her box office crown, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023, but is the blonde bombshell heading towards some Oscar gold as well?
The Barbie movie, helmed by Greta Gerwig and starring the dynamic duo of Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling, is officially throwing its hat in the race for the Academy Awards. However, the placement of the film in the screenplay categories is causing a stir. Per Variety, Warner Bros. confirms that the film will campaign for this year’s Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and other categories.
The Best Original Screenplay placement and campaign have some crying “category fraud” as the film looks to move away from the stack ed Adapted category (featuring Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Barbenheimer counterpart Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer). In Original Screenplay, Barbie currently has more low-key projects like Focus Features’ The Holdovers and A24’s Past Lives as competitors.
For those asking how this is possible, Variety notes the official on-screen credits are “based on ‘Barbie’ by Mattel,” a doll made by a toy company, and not what would be considered “previously published material.” The film, co-written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, has been praised for its highly original concepts and execution, which has put it as the top contender in its category.
Barbie will look to submit two songs for possible contention: What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish and I’m Just Ken by Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt. Production Design, Hair & Make-up, and Sound are also possible nomination categories, but there doesn’t seem to be any drama with those.
Gerwig has been nominated for three Oscars – Little Women in adapted and Lady Bird for original screenplay and directing. Co-writer & Gerwig’s partner Noah Baumbach also has three nominations – two for original for The Squid and the Whale and Marriage Story, which also saw a best picture nod.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie will look to add more money to her stylish purse as Warner Bros. is set to re-release the film in IMAX theaters for one week starting September 22, 2023. The re-release will feature “exclusive post-credit footage selected by the film’s director, Greta Gerwig.”
We shall see if the box office success and awards season pedigree will carry Barbie to Oscar gold, but be sure to let us know your thoughts on the film’s awards prospects and its push for Original Screenplay over on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
After being expelled from the utopian Barbie Land for being a less-than-perfect doll, Barbie and Ken go on a journey of self-discovery to the real world.
Directed by Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women), the Barbie movie sees Robbie and Gosling’s iconic toy couple joined by a bumper cast that includes Will Ferrell (Step Brothers), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell), America Ferrera (Superstore), Ariana Greenblatt (Love and Monsters), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), Alexandra Shipp (tick, tick… BOOM!), Issa Rae (The Lovebirds), Michael Cera (Arrested Development), Hari Nef (And Just Like That…), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami), Rhea Perlman (Cheers), Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education), Emerald Fennell (The Crown), Sharon Rooney (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain), Scott Evans (Grace and Frankie), Ana Cruz Kayne (Little Women), Connor Swindells (Sex Education), Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy), Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag) and Helen Mirren (Shazam! Fury of the Gods).
Barbie is in cinemas and is currently available for digital release.
