From breaking Dark Knight-level box office records to spawning a fashion movement, the Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie has made history many times over – and its mark on pop culture forever. But the comedy also paid homage to cinema history, with a wild and elaborate tribute to one of the most famous opening sequences of all time. Though the scene — which nods to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 — is already a cinematic classic in its own right, Gerwig revealed on CinemaBlend’s own ReelBlend podcast that she hesitated to roll with it at first. She even tapped her therapist for some advice before making the final decision.
Greta Gerwig has cemented herself as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 21st century. And she delighted cinephiles worldwide when she began her history-making blockbuster with a detailed and hilarious tongue-in-cheek tribute to the iconic “Dawn of Man” opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, replacing the prehistoric primates with little girls and the mysterious monolith with Margot Robbie dressed head-to-pointed toe as the OG Barbie. The scene is a masterpiece in and of itself, and Gerwig told ReelBlend that a lot of thought went into how it would play out:
I love [Stanley] Kubrick. Who doesn’t love Kubrick? One thing when we started talking about the film was like, I don’t want to do it just as a parody where we do it kind of quick and dirty and it really doesn’t matter.
The filmmaker revealed that the crew lovingly, and painstakingly, worked to recreate 2001’s opening sequence. They built the set to be similar to Stanley Kubrick’s, and used the same film plates and front screen projection to make sure that it played with “the utmost integrity and excellence.”
Greta Gerwig was also well aware of the complexities of honoring such a legendary filmmaker within Barbie. With that, she even struggled with whether she was making the right call:
[Kubrick]’s entire filmography is just staggering, but he’s also the paragon of a certain type of masculine filmmaking, and it just felt like what a fun thing to do to sort of transpose with respect to this doll. I did have a moment of like, ‘am I really going to start this movie with a 2001 parody?’ But I ended up talking it through with my therapist and she thought it was hilarious.
It’s never a bad idea to check in with a trusted confidante and make sure you’re on the right track, so I can’t blame the Little Women helmer for hitting up her therapist for a second opinion. Take a look at this clip from her ReelBlend interview for more details on how she made the decision to move forward with the amazing Barbie opening sequence:
Any concerns Greta Gerwig had about kicking off Barbie with a Stanley Kubrick-inspired parody should be laid to rest by now. The heartfelt comedy has become one of the most successful and beloved movies of all time – the kind of film that future filmmakers may also end up lovingly paying tribute to. If you haven’t seen it yet, or want to revisit it from beginning to end, anyone with a Prime Video subscription can rent it digitally.