Yes, Amy Schumer is going to star in a Barbie movie. Take that, preconceived notions.
It's been confirmed that Schumer will star in a live-action comedy based on the well-known toyline of blonde and unrealistically-proportioned dolls in the coming months. Deadline reports that Schumer, together with her sister Kim Caramele, will do a pass over the screenplay to inject some of their own humour into it.
That humour, however, will have to be tempered as Sony Pictures - the studio behind the film - have ordered a film with a strict PG rating, so no vagina jokes or jokes about the fact that Barbie has no vagina. The story, of course, is one of female empowerment, with Barbie (Schumer) being kicked out of Barbieland because she isn't perfect. Before long, she's in the real world and on an adventure.
By the time she returns to Barbieland to save it, she has gained the wherewithal that perfection comes on the inside, not the outside, and that the key to happiness is belief in oneself, free of the obligation to adhere to some unattainable standard of perfection.
So it's like Enchanted, basically.
No director has been locked in yet, however Sony Pictures are keen to have a woman take on the director's chair with Me Before You's Thea Sharrock being heavily favoured for the role. No release date has been scheduled in, but Sony are keen to start production as soon as possible.
Thoughts? Well, look, if anyone's going to be in a live-action Barbie film, it's Amy Schumer. The fact that it's PG, however, is going to hobble a lot of her comedy so it remains to be seen if she can work in that kind of restrictive frame. The director will also play a big part in it and the best one we can think of for this is Nicole Holofcener, who did Enough Said with Julie Louis-Dreyfuss and a bunch of Parks & Recreation episodes.
What do you think of a Barbie live-action film? Let us know in the comments!
Via Deadline