Barbie director Greta Gerwig has revealed the 33 movies that inspired her new film – and they're a broad mix.
The pink-tastic movie sees Barbie (Margot Robbie) leave Barbie Land for the real world. There, she gets herself into all kinds of scrapes, with the trailers showcasing the doll on the run from the CEO of Mattel (Will Ferrell) and even getting arrested (alongside Ryan Gosling's Ken).
Gerwig revealed her list of influences on Letterboxd, which is as follows:
- The Wizard of Oz
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
- The Young Girls of Rochefort
- Model Shop
- An American in Paris
- Singin' in the Rain
- The Red Shoes
- A Matter of Life and Death
- All That Jazz
- Heaven Can Wait
- Oklahoma!
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- His Girl Friday
- The Philadelphia Story
- Gold Diggers of 1935
- Twentieth Century
- The Ladies Man
- Rear Window
- And the Ship Sails On
- Wings of Desire
- The Earrings of Madame de…
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Modern Times
- Pee-wee's Big Adventure
- Grease
- The Truman Show
- Mon Oncle
- PlayTime
- Splash
- Saturday Night Fever
- The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
- The Godfather
Some of those movies make perfect sense – The Truman Show is about a man trying to make a break for the real world after discovering his entire life is a TV show, while Pee-wee's Big Adventure is about a funny character on a whacky journey – while some are more unexpected, like Rear Window (a Hitchcock thriller) and The Godfather (a Mafia crime drama). Plus, we know the movie begins with the 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, so it makes sense for that film to be on the list.
In an interview with Letterboxd, Gerwig broke down why each film is on her list. Rear Window is there "for builds, and seeing everything," while Gerwig explained The Godfather's inclusion with: "We all know why The Godfather was in there, because it's a triumph of Robert Evans' and [Francis Ford] Coppola's aesthetic genius. It was so fun to watch again. It's the best ever; it's a masterpiece."
Barbie arrives in theaters this July 21. In the meantime, check out our guide on all the upcoming major movie release dates for everything else 2023 has in store.
