Illumination CEO Reveals Movie Plans For Iconic Toy After $1.4 Billion Box Office Success

Published Jun 21, 2026, 8:23 PM EDT

During a recent interview with Collider, Meledandri confirmed that the animation studio is actively developing a Barbie movie in collaboration with Mattel. When asked directly whether Illumination was working on a Barbie movie, Meledandri confirmed the news while emphasizing that the studio's biggest challenge was finding a way to differentiate itself from Gerwig's film. Read his comments below:

It is true, and we're working very closely with Mattel. For us and Mattel, the first threshold that we needed to get past was a belief that we could do something that was utterly distinct from the live-action movie, which I really liked a lot, and obviously audiences liked a lot. So, it was really important for us that we found a way in through story that could set us completely apart from that film and in no way make it feel like we were really trying to kind of squeeze into the terrain that they so beautifully establish in that movie. I think we found that way in, and so we're working hard on that. But until we dig deeper, we won't know for sure.

We don't yet have a filmmaker on it that we're collaborating with outside of just the Illumination and Mattel development ecosystem. We've yet to put on a filmmaker, and we're still in the story definition phases.

More to come...

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  Created by Ruth Handler

  Cast Margot Robbie, Kelly Sheridan, Jodi Benson, America Young

  TV Show(s) Barbie: Dreamtopia, Barbie: It Takes Two, Barbie: Life in the City, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse

  Character(s) Barbie Millicent Roberts, Ken Sean Carson

  Video Game(s) Barbie (1984), Barbie: Explorer, Barbie: Game Girl

  Barbie is a multimedia franchise that started with the original Barbie doll created in 1959 by Ruth Handler, who would go on to be a co-founder of Mattel. Over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold since then, which spawned several TV shows, movies, video games, and other merchandise. In 2023, a Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie was released.