VARIETY – Warner Bros. and Mattel have partnered to bring Barbie to the big screen. Margot Robbie is set to portray the live-action version of the iconic doll.
“This project is a great start to our partnership with Ynon and Mattel Films,” said Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. “And Margot is the ideal producer and actress to bring Barbie to life on screen in a fresh and relevant way for today’s audiences.”
Robbie will also co-produce the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment banner, alongside Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara from LuckyChap Entertainment.
“Playing with Barbie promotes confidence, curiosity and communication throughout a child’s journey to self-discovery. Over the brand’s almost 60 years, Barbie has empowered kids to imagine themselves in aspirational roles from a princess to president,” Robbie said. “I’m so honored to take on this role and produce a film that I believe will have a tremendously positive impact on children and audiences worldwide. I can’t imagine better partners than Warner Bros and Mattel to bring this film to the big screen.”
The Barbie adaptation marks the first announced deal to come out of Mattel’s newly-established Mattel Films, led by producer Robbie Brenner, as well as the first collaboration between Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.
“Barbie is one of the most iconic franchises in the world and we are excited to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures and Margot Robbie to bring her to life on the big screen,” said Ynon Kreiz, chairman and CEO of Mattel. “We look forward to building on this collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures as we tell the stories of our beloved brands. Mattel Films is on a path to demonstrate the enormous potential of our brand portfolio, as we continue to execute on our strategy of transforming Mattel into an IP-driven, high performing toy company.” (source)
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – Annapurna has tapped another A-list actress for its untitled movie about the women of Fox News.
Margot Robbie is in talks to join Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman in the project that centers on the women who took on the toxic male culture of the news network and its late chief Roger Ailes.
Theron will take on the role of former host Megyn Kelly, while Kidman will portray Gretchen Carlson. Robbie will play an associate producer at the news network.
The studio, which is already making a Dick Cheney biopic with helmer Adam McKay, is financing and producing the project that was written by The Big Short scribe Charles Randolph and will be directed by Jay Roach.
Theron will produce the feature along with Beth Kono and AJ Dix via their Denver & Delilah banner. Roach, Randolph and Margaret Riley are also producing.
Ailes ran Fox News and helped launch the careers of Kelly, Carlson and Sean Hannity with his powerful channel. He also was a prominent figure in Republican circles that helped elect presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Ailes was forced to resign in 2016 when a host of accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced, with Carlson’s and Kelly’s the most high-profile, and which contributed to his exit from the network.
The untitled project is described as an ensemble pic, with Ailes and others who were involved at Fox News during his reign said to be major players in the piece. Characters included are likely to be Carlson, former anchor Greta Van Susteren, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and fired host Bill O’Reilly.
Robbie is coming off an Oscar nomination for her performance as Tonya Harding in I,Tonya, and will next be seen in another awards-season contender, Mary Queen of Scots. (source)
STUFF – I, Tonya star Margot Robbie has confirmed she will play late actor Sharon Tate in the upcoming film by Quentin Tarantino.
Speaking to Stuff in Sydney ahead of the Peter Rabbit premiere on Saturday, Robbie confirmed she would play the actress who was brutally killed by Charles Manson’s associates on August 9, 1969.
Robbie said she was very excited to star in Tarantino’s ninth film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
“So yes, I will need to start researching,” she said.
Tarantino’s film has so far been shrouded in secrecy but Variety has confirmed that Leonardo DiCaprio will also star in the film.
[…]
Tate and four friends were found dead August 9, 1969. Manson ordered his followers to visit the house where the pregnant Tate was staying in Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles with Steve Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger.
Tate was eight and a half months pregnant with director Roman Polanski’s baby. (source)
DEADLINE – Bold Films will finance the Margot Robbie project Dangerous Odds in which the I, Tonya Best Actress Oscar nominee will play cleaning lady-turned-illegal sports betting empire boss Marisa Lankester. The project was picked up in turnaround from Warner Bros., where Robbie’s production company LuckyChap Entertainment has a first-look deal.
The project is based on Lankester’s memoir Dangerous Odds: My Secret Life Inside an Illegal Billion-Dollar Sports Betting Operation, which originally was won by Warner Bros. in a January 2015 auction as exclusively reported by Deadline. LuckyChap and Entertainment 360, the production arm of Management 360, will produce with Bold, and the feature is based on a script by Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton).
Lankester’s rags-to-riches tale is set during the 1980s as she rises through the ranks and takes on a pivotal role establishing the first offshore gambling operation, growing it into a billion-dollar-a-year criminal empire.
Said Bold Films Chairman Michel Litvak: “We are incredibly excited to work with Oscar-nominated actress Margot Robbie at this momentous time in her career. She will do an amazing job bring this thrilling true story and fascinating character to life.”
Added Bold Films CEO Gary Michael Walters, who is serving as EP with Svetlana Metkina: “It’s a great character; it’s a female Scarface in the rise of this great criminal operation under the leadership of a very savvy woman. Margot Robbie is an extraordinary actress and couldn’t be hotter right now. She is so versatile and strong with comedy, drama and action — she really is the full package, and that’s rare. She’s built up a great production company with LuckyChap.”
These type of independent films in the budget range of $25M-$35M are Bold’s sweet spot, and there’s a strong appetite for such fare in the current indie marketplace. Robbie’s film canon has reaped close to $1.9 billion at the global box office.
“We are building LuckyChap off of a passion to tell female-driven stories that feel original, unique and rebellious in nature,” LuckyChap Entertainment said. “We found all of this in Marisa’s story and couldn’t be more excited to partner with Bold Films and 360 to bring Dangerous Odds to the screen.” (source)
VARIETY – Universal Pictures has optioned the rights “The Paper Bag Princess” and sees the bestselling children’s book as a possible directing vehicle for Elizabeth Banks, Variety has learned. Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street”), who is producing the project with Banks, may appear in the film. Katie Silberman (“Set It Up”) is attached to write the screenplay.
Bidding on the project was heated, with Warner Bros. also circling the film, according to sources. The book is written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko.
It centers on a princess whose castle and the royal wardrobe it houses are destroyed by a dragon on the eve of her wedding. Her fiancee is also captured. Wearing nothing more than a paper bag, the princess gives chase. The book has a strong feminist strain, upending the old damsel in distress cliches. Since its publication in 1980, “The Paper Bag Princess” has been reprinted 90 times and sold more than 10 million copies.
It makes sense that Banks would opt for Universal. The studio is home to her Brownstone Productions and has backed the “Pitch Perfect” series, which the actress helped launch. Banks will produce the new film for Brownstone with Max Handelman. Other producers on the family-friendly picture include Robbie and Tom Ackerley, who will back the project through their label LuckyChap Entertainment. Bryan Unkeless from Clubhouse Pictures and Dan Krech are also listed as producers.
Brownstone is backing the third installment in the “Pitch Perfect” franchise, which hits theaters on Dec. 22. LuckyChap releases “I, Tonya,” starring Robbie, on Dec. 8. “The Paper Bag Princess” with its strong heroine also sounds like a match for Brownstone and Banks, both of whom are backing female driven films and shows, such as the upcoming “Charlie’s Angels” reboot with Kristen Stewart attached as one of the crime fighters.
Universal Vice President of Production Sara Scott will oversee the project for the studio. (source)
VARIETY – Josie Rourke is directing the film. Working Title’s Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Deborah Hayward are producing.
“House of Cards” creator Beau Willimon is writing an original script based on a book by John Guy titled “The True Life of Mary Stuart.” “Mary” has yet to be greenlit, but sources say things are headed in the right direction. If greenlit, the film would likely go sometime later this year. Ronan will play the title role of Mary.
Following the success of big hits like “Suicide Squad” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” this latest role gives the Australian-born Robbie a prestige part to add to her portfolio. It could also have awards season potential given Focus’ track record of pushing Oscar campaigns for its releases.
Robbie, 26, is currently starring in Fox Searchlight’s “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” where she plays the wife of “Winnie the Pooh” author A.A. Milne. She recently wrapped production on “I, Tonya” starring as the title character Tonya Harding in a film she also produced under her Lucky Chap Entertainment banner. (source)
DEADLINE – David Ayer will direct and produce Gotham City Sirens for Warner Bros. This is the idea that Margot Robbie pitched to the studio for an all-female DC villains movie back in May (2016), in which she’ll make her return as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s psychotic girlfriend from Suicide Squad. Robbie will also serve as EP.
Sherlock Holmes 3 and Tomb Raider reboot scribe Geneva Robertson-Dworet is being tapped to write. DC’s motion picture executives Geoff Johns and Jon Berg will also produce.
Gotham City Sirens was published by DC in 2009, and is part of the Batman: Reborn series. Paul Dini wrote it, while Guillem March illustrated. In addition to Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter Talia feature prominently in it. (source)
DEADLINE – It garnered a lot of interest, but when the dust cleared it was Sony that nailed the project for producers Donald De Line and Amy Pascal by pre-empting the spec Marian for actress Margot Robbie to star. A nice role for Robbie to show some more of her acting chops, this time in a serious and truly gritty turn. Think Braveheart meets Game of Thrones. Robbie’s label LuckyChap Entertainment is also producing, with Rock Shaink, through his Romark Entertainment.
Scripted by newcomer Pete Barry, Marian is based on the character from the Robin Hood folklore. Here’s the storyline:
After a conspiracy to conquer England in which the love of her life Robin Hood dies before her eyes, Marian picks up the cause to lead her people into a pivotal war. She comes to power, charging into a battle that will not only decide the fate of the kingdom but will see her don the mantle of the man she loved. In the process, she rises as a legend herself.
Robbie is currently at work on I, Tonya (wrapped), the biopic about disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding that started shooting last month. Also on her plate is a further exploration of her Suicide Squad character in a project called Gotham City Sirens for Warner Bros. and director David Ayer — an all-female DC villains movie. In addition, she’s on two projects based on beloved characters from childhood books: Peter Rabbit at Sony/Columbia, a live-action/CGI hybrid feature based on Beatrix Potter’s classic characters, and Fox Searchlight’s untitled A.A. Milne project centered on Winnie the Pooh. (source)
