Sony Pictures has moved “Barbie” from its Aug. 8 release date this summer to May 8, 2020, the studio announced Tuesday.
Anne Hathaway is slated to play the lead role in the film based on the famous Mattel doll, with Alethea Jones (“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life On Normal Street”) set to direct. Hathaway was cast in the film this past July, replacing Amy Schumer, who signed on for the role in December 2016 but dropped out three months later, citing scheduling conflicts.
The script for “Barbie” has been worked on by various writers, with Diablo Cody, Lindsey Beer, Jenny Bicks, Kim Caramele, Bert V. Royal and Hilary Winston all sharing writing credit. When Schumer was first cast in the role, the original synopsis for the film followed a Barbie doll who goes to the real world after finding that she does not fit in the doll world because of her unique nature.
The film aimed to have a feminist tone, subverting Barbie’s usual image of fashion and other stereotypes placed on toys for girls.
There are no other films currently slated for May 2020, though “Barbie” will almost certainly compete with a Marvel Studios film, as Disney has placed a superhero movie in early May for many years now.
Meanwhile, Sony has dated Alex Tse’s reboot of the blaxploitation film “Super Fly” for June 15, 2018, while an untitled animated film that will be produced by “Lego Movie” directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller will be released in February 2020.