Sharon Stone Tried to Make ‘Barbie’ in the 1990s, But Was “Thrown Out of the Studio”

Sharon Stone is an innovator, and if she had it her way, the world would have had Barbie as a film long, long before 2023. Deadline reports that Stone pitched the Barbie-as-a-movie concept as far back as the 1990s, but that, in her words, “We got thrown out of the studio.”

While appearing on the “Fly on the Wall” podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade, 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. 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.” 

As to what the pitch for Barbie was like 30 years ago, Stone detailed it for Carvey and Spade: “We had it so the opening scene would be Barbie pulling up to Mattel in her Barbie car and secret service come out, and their feet are as big as the car,” she said. “They escort her into Mattel, and everybody falls aside because she’s the most important member of Mattel. 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.”

Stone said that studio executives at the time “didn’t think Barbie should be powerful”—and noted that those executives are no longer at the company.

Not telling you anything you don’t know, but the Barbie concept went on to be brought to the screen by director Greta Gerwig and actor Margot Robbie, who played the titular character in 2023’s Barbie. Earlier this year, Stone replied to a social media post by America Ferrera, where Ferrera shared her acceptance speech from the Critics Choice Awards.

“I was laughed out if the studio when i came w the Barbie idea in the 90s w the support of the head of Barbie,” Stone wrote [sic]. “How far we’ve come thank you ladies for your courage and endurance.”