Over the years, many movies with outrageous plots have been released, forcing viewers to wonder how studios agreed to spend money on them. Even Keanu Reeves’ Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure had an outrageous plot and the film’s star Alex Winter even admitted that no one thought it would get released. Fortunately, the film turned out to be a massive success, leading to the creation of two sequels.
The same could be said about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Looking back at it, the plot is outrageous but the movie still managed to become the highest-grossing film of 2023. Even Margot Robbie once explained that she thought the film’s plot was outrageous and the studios would simply scrap the idea. In the end, Barbie became a worldwide sensation, grossing over $1.4 billion at the global box office.
Alex Winter doubted if Keanu Reeves’ Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure would get released
1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure focused on two friends, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), who use a phone booth time machine to travel through time to assemble historical figures for their high school history presentation. Sure, the idea was outrageous but the production companies went ahead with it with a budget of $10 million. In 2013, actor Alex Winter explained that the film was a “happy accident” in a Reddit Ask Me Anything,
“That whole movie was a happy accident. No one thought it would ever see the light of day.”
Upon release, the film received positive reviews and grossed roughly $40 million against a $10 million budget. Thanks to its success, two sequels were made: Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020).
Margot Robbie felt the same about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie
Just like Winter, actor Margot Robbie once explained that she also doubted if Greta Gerwig’s Barbie would get released because of its plot. In April 2023, Robbie told BAFTA that she thought the film would never see the light of day (via IndieWire),
“The first time I read the Barbie script, my reaction was, ‘Ah! This is so good. What a shame it will never see the light of day – because they are never going to let us make this movie.’ But they did.”
With a budget of $128–145 million, Barbie managed to gross over $1.4 billion at the global box office, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023 and the 14th highest-grossing film of all time. The film earned many prestigious awards and nominations including nominations for twelve Grammy Awards. Maybe the film wasn’t a bad idea after all.
