Filming on ‘Barbie’ led to a worldwide shortage of pink paint

A production designer on Barbie has revealed that the film’s shoot led to a worldwide shortage of pink paint.

Set for release on July 21, the film is directed by Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie in the titular role, with Ryan Gosling as Ken.

In a new interview with Architectural Digest, Gerwig, production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer discussed the bright pink colours seen all over the film’s artwork and trailers, and how it all came together.

“I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much,” Gerwig said, wanting to not “forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.”

Greenwood then claimed that the shoot used so much pink paint that it led to a worldwide shortage. “The world ran out of pink,” she said.

Also starring Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Michael Cera and Helen Mirren, the movie appears to follow the story of Barbie, as she gains consciousness about the imperfections in life, and ventures into the real world with Ken.

A new trailer was shared last week that finally revealed details about the upcoming film’s plot.

The new trailer, which you can watch above, sees Robbie‘s Barbie snapping out of her “perfect” life, verbalising her deepest existential thoughts during a party. “You guys ever think about dying?” she asks, as everyone stares at her.

She realises that other “perfect” elements of her life are slowly falling apart, and is tasked with venturing out into the real world to discover “the truth”. Gosling‘s Ken joins her and the pair journey to fight off kidnappers and more.

Last week also saw Dua Lipa release new single ‘Dance The Night’ — the lead single from the upcoming movie soundtrack.

Written in collaboration with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt — who both composed the music for the film — and Norwegian singer Caroline Ailin, the song comes alongside a Barbie-inspired music video, which sees the pop star strut around the hot-pink film sets. It also features a cameo from Gerwig.

Details on the soundtrack ‘Barbie: The Album’ were also revealed this week. 17 of the artists appearing on the collaboration album were revealed, including Haim, Tame Impala, Lizzo and Nicki Minaj.