There comes a time in every darling of independent cinema’s life when they get offered the chance to plunge themselves into the blockbuster business, and it’s an opportunity Greta Gerwig has seized with both hands.
The Academy Award-nominated filmmaker is the mastermind behind the buzziest big budget release of the year, and the projections are making it look increasingly likely that self-referential comedic caper Barbie will be able to recoup its reported $100 million budget through its first three days in domestic theaters, wiping the floor with Oppenheimer in the process.
Not only that, but Gerwig is also signed on to write and direct at least two Chronicles of Narnia epics for Netflix, with the streaming service finally making good use of the rights it first acquired back in 2018. After that? Well, according to the filmmaker herself in an interview with Rolling Stone when asked, superheroes are most definitely not off the table.
“Yes, of course. It would have to be something I had a feeling for and a relationship to. A well-shot, well-executed action movie is just incredible. It’s a dance. I’ve never done anything like that. But even in a small way, working with the stunt coordinator who did fight choreography on Barbie, he was just fascinating. It was so fun to talk to him.”
If Barbie lives up to the hype and expectations, then Gerwig is going to be able to write her own ticket in Hollywood. In hindsight, that could make her decision to dedicate herself to what’s sure to be years crafting a pair of literary adaptations for Netflix a curious one, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to abandon the big screen altogether.
Barbie, Narnia, and superheroes, oh my; Gerwig has the world at her feet, and she’s ready to take it on.