“Mixed” is the Word on ‘Barbie’ as Gerwig Hopes for Sequels: “I Want to go Back to Barbieland”

UPDATED:: In an interview with People Magazine, big studio filmmaker Greta Gerwig says she hopes her ”Barbie” launches “a bunch of different Barbie movies.” “I want to go back to Barbie Land,” she says.

“Barbie” is ever so slowly being screened for press junkets. Actual press screenings are not supposed to happen until later next week.

So it happens, Warner Bros decided to invite me to watch “Barbie” on the same day and time as my “Oppenheimer” press screening. Guess which movie I’m going to choose?

Last week, I mentioned having spoken to three journalists who saw “Barbie” at one of these junket screenings. All three were mixed, one of them was bordering on the positive side. Now we have Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells posting about two other journalists who saw Gerwig’s film, both were mixed as well:

A regional friend who gets around says he’s hearing “very mixed” reactions to “Barbie”. There are tea leaves to be read, tea leaves under a cloak of secrecy. A couple of pallies saw Barbie over the last couple of days and were asked to signed NDAs.  

“Barbie” will have its review embargo lifted on July 13th. Wells believes that all of these NDAs being signed to prevent “Barbie” reactions from spreading is a bad sign.

If Barbie was some kind of great or exceptional, wouldn’t exciting buzz be circulating now, like the Mission Impossible 7 buzz was all over the place for the last several months? [..] So if Barbie is a big winner, why would you have industry vets sign NDAs? I’ll tell you why. Because loose lips sink ships.

If that’s the case then why is “Oppenheimer” not screening for press until July 18? Is that also a red flag? Not necessarily. Nolan’s past films have also screened pretty late. Take for example “Dunkirk” — back in 2017, its review embargo was lifted on July 17th and it got released on July 21st.

So, no, I don’t believe Wells has a case here with the slow rollout of “Barbie,” but what I do know is that, based on what I’ve read and heard so far, I’m starting to keep my expectations in check.

The marketing for “Barbie” has been on overdrive these past few weeks, to the point where I’m being force fed this film everywhere I go. It seems to be working: the latest projections have Gerwig’s film tracking at around $110 million on opening weekend.

EDIT: A reader just emailed me that Jeff Sneider mentioned on his Hot Mic podcast that he’s hearing, wait for it, “mixed” things about “Barbie.” We’re going to have to come up with a better word, folks.