By India McCarty
Mattel, Universal and Illumination will team up to bring Barbie back to the big screen — this time, in an animated project.
“[The trio] have finalized a deal to develop a new BARBIE movie that will be the first in animation for theaters, sources tell Deadline,” the outlet reported, adding that reps for all three companies “declined to comment.”
Deadline revealed the movie “will be released by Universal Pictures, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Illumination” but said there’s been “no word yet on the plot of this BARBIE or creatives attached.”
It’s no surprise Mattel is eager to put out another project featuring the popular doll. 2023’s live-action BARBIE made over $1.4 billion internationally, per Box Office Mojo. It is also Warner Bros.’ highest-earning theatrical release of all time.
Barbie has inspired a series of animated movies, with 44 titles that include BARBIE IN THE NUTCRACKER, BARBIE: FAIRYTOPIA and BARBIE AND THE THREE MUSKETEERS.
But she isn’t the only doll that’s headed to the big screen soon. Sindy, a rival doll that was launched in the 1960s, is also set to get her own movie.
A2R2 Productions recently acquired the rights to Sindy and confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that they’re planning a “bold, feel-good live-action musical that mixes heart, humor and high fashion.”
Another doll that’s about to make her cinematic debut? Mattel’s Polly Pocket. The movie, announced in 2021, is set to star EMILY IN PARIS’ Lily Collins, who told Variety the role “a real dream come true, adding, “I can’t wait to bring these tiny toys to the big screen.”
The movie originally planned to feature a script from Lena Dunham, but she revealed last year that she had exited the project.
“I wrote a script, and I was working on it for three years,” she told The New Yorker, but explained that, after seeing Greta Gerwig’s “perfect” BARBIE adaptation, she decided she didn’t “have that in me.”
The actress and writer elaborated on that decision earlier this month, saying, “What Greta did with BARBIE, managing to take this piece of IP and make it so personal and specific, it’s really really hard, and I just didn’t think I was going to be the best person for the job.”
From classics like Barbie and Polly Pocket to forgotten toys like Sindy, it looks like the dolls are about to take over the box office.
Read Next: Mattel Announces New Polly Pocket Movie Along with Other Family-Friendly Projects
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