Sumith Prasad
‘Ken,’ a spin-off movie of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie,’ is reportedly in development at Warner Bros. Pictures. The film follows the namesake character, who is regarded as Barbie’s boyfriend. As per sources, Ryan Gosling, who plays the character in Gerwig’s film, is expected to reprise Ken if the spin-off film materializes.
Gosling revealed that Ken is the role he was “born to play” and further added that there has always been a Ken inside of him. If the development of the film advances, the chances of another actor playing the protagonist are very low. Even after receiving immense backlash from fans for playing a character well below his age, Gosling has been advocating the need to tell Ken’s story.
“It is funny. This kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this? And everyone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing. But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never fucked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told,” Gosling told GQ. “I care about this dude now. I’m like his representative,” he added.
It is no wonder that WB is apparently keen on developing a “Ken” spin-off, especially after ‘Barbie’ is tracked to open to $70-80 million at the box office. The studio must be hoping to take advantage of the social media and marketing phenomenon ‘Barbie’ created with another film from the same universe that may bring in similar box-office figures, especially when even high-profile projects are failing to create a wave at the box office.
It is unknown whether ‘Barbie’ director Greta Gerwig will be open to helm the potential spin-off film. Gerwig reportedly is set to direct a feature film based on ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ books for Netflix. Sources had revealed that the director may have a deal to direct two films for the franchise. If WB wants to release Ken before the ‘Barbie’ phenomenon fades off, we can expect a new director to get signed on to make the movie.
Since 1961, the year in which the Ken doll was introduced, Mattel has regularly updated the storyline of the character. If ‘Ken’ materializes at WB, we can expect the eponymous character’s tale to be explored in detail.
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