BARBIE _I tried to cry_ (2023) Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling

BARBIE _I tried to cry_ TV Spot (2023) Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling

BARBIE "I tried to cry" TV Spot (2023) Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Emma Mackey, Greta Gerwig
© 2023 - Warner Bros

After a rather varied career as an astronaut, chef, paramedic, skateboarder, teacher, beekeeper and mermaid, it's only right that Barbie tries her hand at being a movie star.

An all-star, live-action film about the world's most famous doll is on the way, and it's already one of the most talked about releases of the summer.

Announced in 2017, the film has experienced several cast changes and various delays, but it is finally set to hit screens in July.

A teaser trailer was released earlier this week, which simultaneously evoked the feeling of becoming nauseous in a sweet shop, and prompted a flurry of brilliant memes.

Here is everything you need to know about the film.
It might be quicker to list the actors who don't appear in Barbie.

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling may take the starring roles of Barbie and Ken, but there is one small problem: In the world of dolls, there isn't just one Barbie, there are hundreds.

As a result, the film also stars pop star Dua Lipa (who plays mermaid Barbie), Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan (diplomat Barbie), and Ana Cruz Kayne (Supreme Court Justice Barbie).

Insecure's Issa Rae will play a president Barbie, while Sex Education star Emma Mackey portrays a Barbie with a Nobel Prize in physics.

Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa takes on the role of a guitar-playing Ken, while One Life to Live's Scott Evans will appear as a cowboy hat-wearing Ken.
Other stars include British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir (another Ken), Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon (another Barbie) and Tick, Tick... Boom! star Alexandra Shipp (yet another Barbie, this time an author).

The Crown's Emerald Fennell stars as Midge, Barbie's best friend, and Juno's Michael Cera will appear as Ken's friend Allan.

Human characters will be played by Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera, Elf actor Will Ferrell, Stath Lets Flats star Jamie Demetriou and Sex Education's Connor Swindells.

Dame Helen Mirren will voice the narrator because, sure, why not?
Why has the trailer gone viral?
The sheer number of stars involved in the film, and the character posters which have been released for each of them, have prompted some hilarious memes on social media.

Film studio Warner Bros anticipated the madness, coding a website that allowed fans to insert themselves into the posters in time for the trailer dropping.

Obviously, nobody used it for that. Instead, Twitter users have been imagining other unlikely characters who could appear in the Barbie Cinematic Universe.

Our favourites include Danny Dyer, Shiv and Kendall from Succession, and Gwyneth Paltrow during her ski trial. Or how about the cast of Ted Lasso?

Maybe you'd prefer Andrew Garfield's character in The Social Network? If not, then there's always Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga or 12 of Cate Blanchett's most famous characters.

Perhaps one of the cleverest posters for film fanatics is Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer - a reference to the fact that Barbie is released on the same day as Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated movie, about the development of the nuclear bomb.

Despite the two films being targeted at totally different audiences, we're up for a screening double-bill when they're released.