Sharon Stone was “laughed” at by studio executives when she pitched a Barbie movie in the 1990s.
The Basic Instinct actress recalled how film chiefs poured scorn on her idea for a film about the iconic toy doll and is grateful for the changes that have happened in Hollywood that led to Margot Robbie’s hugely successful blockbuster last year.
Commenting on an Instagram post showing Barbie star America Ferrera’s speech at the Critics Choice Awards last weekend, Sharon wrote: “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.”
Stone, 65, is not the only actress who has seen a Barbie movie fail to materialize as Anne Hathaway had held initial talks with both Sony and Mattel about starring as the doll in a picture.
However, the Armageddon Time star thinks it is “lucky” that her movie was shelved as Greta Gerwig’s film proved to be a smash hit when it was released last summer.
READ MORE: The Best Movie Posters of 2023
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she said: “What’s so exciting about what Greta and Margot and that phenomenal team [did] is they hit a bullseye. The bullseye caused the entire world to reach this level of ecstasy. Now imagine that version…that much energy, that much anticipation, that much emotion…but it’s not the right version. I actually think of it as a lucky thing [it didn’t get made].”
Hathaway doubts that her movie could have lived up to the hype surrounding Gerwig’s project.
She said: “If I believed that the version I was attached to could have done that, I might feel differently about it, but I genuinely think their film was the best possible version.”
Barbie is currently streaming on Max.
The Best Movie Every Year Since 1980
Here are several generations worth of classic, must-see movies.