Actor/director Randall Park (Always Be My Maybe, Fresh Off the Boat) says Hollywood is getting it all wrong about Barbie.
The movie based on the classic doll has surpassed $1 billion at the box office, making director Greta Gerwig the highest-grossing female director of a live-action movie.
“I feel like, just in general, this industry is taking the wrong lessons. For example, Barbie is this massive blockbuster, and the idea is: Make more movies about toys! No. Make more movies by and about women,” urged Park in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Park speaks from experience, having just made his debut as a director with the movie Shortcomings.
According to Sportskeeda, several have pushed back on Park saying it’s him that’s taking the wrong lessons.
Others gave Park the thumbs up for speaking to the truth.
Toymaker Mattel is hoping to take Barbie’s success and turn its other popular toys into hit movies.
Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket, American Girl, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Magic 8 Ball, UNO and Matchbox are just some of the 14 movies the company has in development, reports Variety.
“At the outset, we’re not saying, ‘Okay, let’s think already about movie two and three,’ said Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz. “Let’s get the first one right and make that a success. And if you do that, opportunities open up very quickly, once you establish the first movie as a successful representation of a franchise on the big screen. Successful movies lend themselves to more movies. Our ambition is to create film franchises.”
Park’s Shortcomings is making its national big-screen debut at the time Barbie and Oppenheimer are getting all the attention.
RELATED: ‘Shortcomings’: Randall Park’s directorial debut on love, life and identity‘
Despite the long odds, Park is just happy to get his shot.
“Hey, man: I see it as Barbenheimercomings,” he told Rolling Stone. “The three of us together have broken records! [Laughs] Ah, no. I can’t control any of that stuff, so it doesn’t affect me too much. I am genuinely happy that we got acquired by a great company like Sony Pictures Classics and are out into the world. It’s such a challenging time for our movie on numerous levels, but I do feel confident that we’ll find our audience eventually. When we got into Sundance, I said, “Whatever happens from here on out is extra.”
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