Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy!
Common, Barbie, Let’s Go Party
Don’t let my incredibly obvious subtitle fool you. The Aqua musical classic Barbie Girl will tragically not be featured in the 2023 Barbie movie.
Thus far we’ve seen images of Margot Robbie taking on the icon role of Barbie in the upcoming movie about the most popular plastic doll and this week Warner Bros shared the first picture of Ryan Gosling’s Ken:
Warner Bros. Pictures on Twitter: “#BARBIEJuly 21, 2023Only in theaters. pic.twitter.com/DAemOyv5H8 / Twitter”
BARBIEJuly 21, 2023Only in theaters. pic.twitter.com/DAemOyv5H8
Social media reception has been mixed. Everything from thirst to instant memeification met this live action Ken doll. Personally, I can side with the hilarity people are finding in this image. Having admitted that, this image is very much who “Ken” is in my mind. If you were grew up with images of Malibu Barbie dancing in your head then the two images released thus far – rife with, what I refer to IRL as “Barbie pink” – hits the mark.
Joining Robbie and Gosling in Barbie is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star, Simu Liu under the direction of Greta Gerwig. Gerwig also serves script duties alongside frequent collaborator Noah Baumbach. The Barbie cast also includes: America Ferrera (Super Store), Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters), Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami), Issa Rae (Insecure), Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs the World), and others.
If you were wondering who Liu is playing in the Barbie movie the only name we have right now it “Another Ken”. Eat your heart of Ryan Gosling. Given our familiarity with him as Jung in Kim’s Convenience and an actual Marvel superhero a possible villain turn for the actor opposite the image of Gosling’s Ken we see above could make for some real drama – and a lot of comedy! Personally, I can’t wait!
Barbie hits cinemas next year on July 21, 2023.
Squid Games Season 2 and Reality Show Announced
Right at the tail end of Netflix’s Geek Week the streaming giant made two big announcements about the biggest series to ever grace its platform – Squid Game. First, this evocative image was shared with the public:
Featuring the eye of the large doll who loomed large over the Red Light/Green Light game – one of the most memorably and frightening moments of the entire series. The image was coupled with an announcement video from Netflix featuring the same image:
Squid Game | Season 2 Announcement | Netflix #SquidGame
Red light…GREENLIGHT! Squid Game is officially coming back for season 2!SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7About Netflix:Netflix is the world’s leading streamin…
“And now, Gi-hun returns. The Front Man returns.”
… stated Squid Game showrunner Dong-hyuk, confirming what we already knew: Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae would be reprised his lead role. The actor took to his own social media the same day to confirm.
Further hints included:
“The man in the suit with ddakji.”
… and …
“Join us once more for a whole new round.”
Young-hee’s boyfriend, fans have been speculating? I definitely think so! With revenge such a strong theme throughout the first season of Squid Game it makes sense to set a revenge plot against Gi-hun for the death of everyone’s favourite breakout woman, Young-hee.
Two days after the season two announcement Netflix followed up with more Squid Game announcements including confirmation of the reality series based on the narrative show. When Squid Game initially exploded on the North American scene there were reports of a “Real life Squid Game” and now we have more details.
Officially titled Squid Game: The Challenge – a title which should immediately have resonance to competition reality show fans – was also broken with a video:
Squid Game: The Challenge | Announcement | Netflix
Do you want to play a game? Join Squid Game: The Challenge, a Netflix Reality competition series. Casting now open at SquidGameCasting.comSUBSCRIBE: http://b…
And promises the highest pot of any reality show – $4.56 million.
Aside from an assurance that no one will actually be killed in the competition very little else has been revealed about Squid Game: The Challenge. If you think you what is have the win the big piggy in the sky you can apply RIGHT NOW at: squidgamecasting.com
A cursory glance at the application form makes it pretty clear the competition is going to involve jetsetting around the world, interpersonal strategizing, and stamina. There are many personality questions which are leading to the character archetypes reality show producers often look for. If you’ve ever watched Survivor or The Amazing Race you can imagine the typical contestants who we will see featured on Netflix in the coming years.
Filming is set to take place over four weeks early in the next year. My bets would be on the release of Squid Game season two followed up by Squid Game: The Challenge perhaps as a buffer before a possible Squid Game season 3 films.
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