July 25, 2017
Hollywood star Anne Hathaway is in talks to replace actress
Amy Schumer for the upcoming live-action 'Barbie'
After losing Schumer
due to scheduling conflicts, Sony looks to have found its replacement for the
upcoming live-action 'Barbie' with Hathaway, reports variety.com.
Australian 'Fun Mom Dinner' director Alethea Jones is in talks to helm the
comedy.
Studio representatives said the casting is premature as
scheduling arrangements have not been worked out and there is no deal as yet.
The big screen adaptation of Mattel's iconic toy line was originally
expected to start production on June 23, but Schumer's busy schedule included a
promotional tour for her new Fox comedy 'Snatched,' as well as shooting for
Rebecca Miller's 'She Came to Me' opposite Steve Carell.
Sony still
intends to stick to its projected June 29, 2018 release date, though it's not
clear when production would start. Mattel already has merchandise and product
cycles in motion, and shifting the production to accommodate Schumer would have
put on a strain on other partners on the film, according to insiders.
The
'Barbie' movie is said to be in the vein of 'Splash', 'Enchanted' and 'Big'. In
it, the main character gets kicked out of Barbieland for not being perfect
enough and lands in a real-world adventure.
Walter F. Parkes, Laurie
MacDonald and Amy Pascal are producing the film. Richard Dickson, president and
COO of Mattel, is executive producing.
Parkes and MacDonald initiated the
original deal with Mattel in 2014.
While Hathaway doesn't come from the
stand-up comedian world like Schumer, she has shown a knack for comedic timing
in films like 'The Devil Wears Prada' and 'Get Smart'.
Hathaway is about
to start shooting the 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' remake 'Nasty Women' with Rebel
Wilson and is co-starring in the 'Ocean's Eleven' spin-off 'Ocean's Eight.'