A Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie is already in development. It will now be joined by a film about Barbie creator Ruth Handler.
Titled Dream Doll, the film will be a biopic focusing on the founder of Mattel and creator of the iconic doll, covering high points in her life, including her founding the toy company Mattel in 1945 and inventing the doll – named after her daughter Barbara – in 1959.
Handler also became one of the few women to run a Fortune 500 company during her lifetime. The film will also reportedly cover her personal struggles, “speaking to everyone who has ever tried to break through a glass ceiling, overcome prejudice, or disrupt an industry”, per Variety.
Handler’s daughter, the aforementioned Barbara, and her granddaughter, Cheryl Segal, said of the project in a statement:
“The world should know about the phenomenal woman behind the doll. We have chosen to work with Rita Wilson, Cristan Crocker, Andrea Nevins and Bron Studios to bring Ruth’s story to life. Working with them on this project seemed like a perfect fit because we feel that they recognise just how inspiring and empowering Ruth was”.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Melissa Wallack (Dallas Buyers Club) will adapt the 1995 memoir Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story for the script. Wilson and Bron Studios are still on the hunt for a director.
The Robbie-led Barbie film will arrive first. But after audiences are hopefully enamoured by that, they’ll be interesting in learning the story behind the doll.
#Peace.Love.DreamDoll
