Hollywood Execs Rejected Sharon Stone's Barbie Movie Pitch For A Sexist Reason
When it hit theaters in 2023, Greta Gerwig's long-awaited "Barbie" movie blew everyone away at the box office, earned widespread critical acclaim, and became one of the year's biggest sensations. Apparently, studio executives in the 1990s never thought anything like that could happen, because Sharon Stone says she was laughed out of a meeting back then over her idea for a "Barbie" film, one where the titular character would wield a lot of power.
Speaking to Dana Carvey and David Spade on their podcast "Fly on the Wall" (per Deadline), Stone said, "I went to the studio to try and make Barbie in the 1990s with a producer, a friend of mine, and I had the then-CEO of Mattel on my side," she said. "We got thrown out of the studio. They were like, 'Why would you take this American icon and try to destroy it? What is wrong with you?' I got a lecture and an escort to the door."
When Spade asked what Stone intended for the film, she said that the idea was that Barbie would be a larger-than-life figure that's far more powerful than anyone at Mattel ... but she'd only be that way in a metaphorical sense because she'd pull up at Mattel in a doll-sized car only to be greeted by giant, human security personnel. As Stone told it, Barbie would be all-powerful ... and the unnamed studio's then-sexist executives really hated that.
The studio hated Sharon Stone's idea of an all-powerful Barbie
As Sharon Stone told Dana Carvey and David Spade, she had a really specific vision in mind for Barbie's entrance into Mattel, and the entire sequence would focus on how powerful she is. "They escort her into Mattel, and everybody falls aside because she's the most important member of Mattel," she explained. "All the big people are chasing her around and kissing her ass because she's the queen of Mattel, and it's about the power of being Barbie and what Barbie could do in the world because she's so powerful."
So what happened? Stone recalls that Mattel was against the idea of Barbie having a ton of power because it frightened the executives and they simply didn't think the doll should wield all of the power. She also told Carvey and Spade that, to her knowledge, none of the individuals she faced are still working for the studio in question. Clearly, they left in time for Greta Gerwig, her co-writer and husband Noah Baumbach, and executive producer and star Margot Robbie to swoop in and convince the company that their vision was worth representing, even if it made Mattel nervous at first.
Years later, Sharon Stone lent her support to Greta Gerwig's vision for Barbie
Though Sharon Stone didn't tell David Spade and Dana Carvey whether or not she liked Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie, she made her feelings quite clear on social media — albeit in a comment. After "Barbie" star America Ferrera — who earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor thanks to her role as Gloria — won the SeeHer award at the Critics Choice Awards in January 2024, she delivered a speech about inclusivity in the entertainment industry and how there need to be more roles for women in the first place, as well as women of color.
During her speech, Ferrera delivered a heartfelt thank you to Margot Robbie, who not only played Stereotypical Barbie in the film but also served as the executive producer ... and got Warner Bros. to agree to make it by promising a billion-dollar box office haul (which she got). As she said, Robbie saw the "value in Barbie, an entirely female idea that most would have dismissed as too girly, too frivolous or just too problematic. You had the courage and the vision to take it on. Thank you for gifting the world with Barbie."
Ferrera posted the speech to Instagram and Stone herself commented, writing, "I was laughed out [of] the studio when i came [with] the Barbie idea in the 90s [with] the support of the head of Barbie. How far we've come thank you ladies for your courage and endurance." So with that in mind, Stone supports the version of Barbie that eventually came to fruition.