Pretty in Pink: ‘Barbie’ Marketing Blitz Hits Fever Pitch 

Australian actress Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet upon arrival for the European premiere of "Barbie" in central London on July 12, 2023. (AFP)
Australian actress Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet upon arrival for the European premiere of "Barbie" in central London on July 12, 2023. (AFP)
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Pretty in Pink: ‘Barbie’ Marketing Blitz Hits Fever Pitch 

Australian actress Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet upon arrival for the European premiere of "Barbie" in central London on July 12, 2023. (AFP)
Australian actress Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet upon arrival for the European premiere of "Barbie" in central London on July 12, 2023. (AFP)

Hollywood A-listers have been walking red carpets in hot pink, glitter is back, and companies from The Gap to Burger King are doing rose-colored collaborations: "Barbie" mania is everywhere as the hotly anticipated film hits theaters worldwide.

Toy maker Mattel, who first unveiled the iconic doll in 1959, has reached about 100 licensing agreements for everything from roller skates to toothbrushes in connection to director Greta Gerwig's summer flick.

Of course, Barbie is big in the beauty world too -- lipsticks, blushes and mirrors all bear the famous logo.

"In the 30 years that I have been tracking and analyzing box offices and trends, I've never quite seen anything like this before," said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore.

"Barbie is tailor-made for marketing," he said. "It's perfect because Barbie is a toy, it's already a product, and beyond that, it's a lifestyle and a color."

The movie, which stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as boyfriend Ken, has been hyped as one of the biggest blockbusters of the season, with numerous premieres held around the globe ahead of Friday's debut in US theaters.

Of course, that promotion blitz has been curtailed at the 11th hour, with Hollywood actors now on strike over pay and other conditions.

But the list of corporate partners is sure to keep the buzz going.

Microsoft, Forever 21, Ulta Beauty, Hot Wheels, Chevrolet and even Progressive insurance are among the companies looking to cash in on Barbie mania.

The influential color company Pantone even has a shade to match the zeitgeist: 219C is officially Barbie Pink.

Mattel has even reached a deal with rival toy giant Hasbro, which will release a Barbie version of the classic board game Monopoly in the fall.

In exchange, Mattel will showcase "Transformers" on its Uno card game in connection with a Hasbro film release.

'Irresistible'

Robbie has embraced Barbiecore fashion at premieres around the world, recreating some of the doll's most iconic looks, but the Barbie lifestyle trend is also full steam ahead

Airbnb is offering up a stay at Barbie's "Malibu DreamHouse" for two nights in connection with the film's debut.

"Placed perfectly above the beach with panoramic views, this life-size toy pink mansion is a dream come true!" reads the listing.

Singer John Legend and his model wife Chrissy Teigen took the plunge, posting a series of pictures on Instagram of their stay at the hot pink property.

The most ubiquitous shade of pink used on the Warner Bros film's set, a retro bubblegum hue made by Rosco, was used in such great quantities that the shoot has been blamed for a global shortage.

"It's just become a very irresistible proposition," said Dergarabedian, crediting both Warner Bros and Mattel with ensuring the buzz had staying power.

Dergarabedian expects a strong opening weekend for Barbie, with around $75 million in North American ticket sales.

'Barbenheimer'

The film is opening in parallel with another big Hollywood entry, the Christopher Nolan-directed "Oppenheimer," a biopic about the father of the atomic bomb.

The unlikely face-off between the dark historical thriller and a fuchsia-tinted romp about a doll has created online buzz about a phenomenon dubbed "Barbenheimer."

Dergarabedian said the coincidental timing of the openings had contributed to "unprecedented" fodder about the films on social media and beyond.

Both movies are opening on the heels of another big-screen blockbuster, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One," which led the domestic box office last weekend.

A starry soundtrack includes tracks from Dua Lipa (who also appears in the film), Lizzo, and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, who recorded a cover of "Barbie Girl," a 1997 hit by Danish-Norwegian band Aqua.

The original recording actually prompted a lengthy but unsuccessful trademark lawsuit by Mattel. The company subsequently embraced the song.

The movie's arrival has also not been without controversy.

Barbie has been banned in Vietnam over a scene with a fictitious world map criticized for allegedly showing China's claims in the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippines allowed the film to be shown -- but asked that the map be blurred.



Timothee Chalamet Channels Young Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'

FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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Timothee Chalamet Channels Young Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'

FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Timothee Chalamet likened his journey to playing music legend Bob Dylan to an athletic feat. It turned into a marathon that stretched longer than the actor had expected.
Chalamet signed up to play Dylan in 2019. Then came a global pandemic and labor strikes in Hollywood, forcing two extended delays to filming.
"A Complete Unknown," the movie about Dylan's quick rise to stardom in the early 1960s, will finally be released in theaters on Wednesday, Christmas Day, by Walt Disney's Searchlight Pictures.
The disruptions gave the "Dune" actor more time to work out how to translate the towering figure to the big screen. Chalamet learned to play guitar and harmonica and worked with a vocal coach to evolve from his smooth "Wonka" singing to Dylan's distinctive, nasal voice, Reuters reported.
"It was the most I've ever taken on," Chalamet said in an interview, comparing the preparation to "the climbing of a steep hill."
"A Complete Unknown" chronicles Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 at age 19, his rapid ascent in folk music circles with songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind," and his divisive turn to electric rock music in 1965. The movie's title is taken from a line in the Dylan hit "Like a Rolling Stone."
Chalamet said he immersed himself in whatever video he could find of Dylan in the early '60s, a time of political and social upheaval in the United States.
"There's a finite amount of material available, especially in this period," Chalamet said. "At some point you can turn every page over. Not to say that I have, but if I haven't I've come damn close to it."
In the summer of 2023, Chalamet said, "I felt like I hit a runner's high" in the preparation.
"I felt like my muscles were strong and I was well prepared, and that every day was sort of just chipping away slowly at this bigger thing," he said.
Just as Chalamet was ready, Hollywood actors went on strike, and he worried that funding or casting might fall apart. The final go-ahead to start filming came in March 2024.
DYLAN WEIGHS IN
The real-life Dylan provided input on the script to director James Mangold but never met or spoke with Chalamet, though he recently described the star as "a brilliant actor."
"I'm sure he's going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me," Dylan wrote on social media platform X.
Chalamet's performance has earned praise from critics and predictions that he could garner his second Oscar nomination. He and co-star Edward Norton were nominated for Golden Globes.
Other co-stars include Elle Fanning, who plays girlfriend Suze Rotolo who appeared on the cover of the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" but goes by the name Sylvie Russo in the film.
Monica Barbaro portrays singer Joan Baez, who had already landed on the cover of Time magazine when her career intersected with Dylan's. At the time, Baez was trying to figure out how to use her platform as an activist.
"Bob came in and was kind of a mess of a boy, but also an absolute poet and brilliant lyricist, and was putting words to all of these things that she felt," Barbaro said. "On top of his charisma, I think, she just was sort of magnetized to him."
Norton plays Pete Seeger, a banjo player and prominent singer of protest music who mentored Dylan.
"I think a lot of people have lost sight of who these people actually were and what they did and what they sounded like," Norton said. "If we can get some people tuning in again, that's probably worth the whole enterprise."
Chalamet agreed.
Dylan is "one of these names that is iconic to my generation," the 28-year-old said. "You know the name, but because he's such an elusive figure and a reclusive figure ... a lot of people my age don't know the music."
"This felt like an opportunity to be a bridge in some way and bring life to this amazing period," he added.