Everything we know about the Polly Pocket movie

Move over, Barbie, a new doll is coming to the screen! Her name? Polly Pocket. The incredible success of Greta Gerwig's film, which grossed an impressive $377 million in a single weekend, making it the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman, has prompted Mattel to invest in cinema and bring many of its most popular toys to the big screen. In a recent interview with Variety, the US company's CEO Ynon Kreiz revealed that the company has no less than 14 productions in the pipeline to hit cinemas. These include Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe, American Girl and Barney, but the title that piques the most curiosity is the Polly Pocket movie, a project that has been in talks since 2021 and seemed to be on hold until now.

Now that the long wait seems to have come to an end, here's everything we know.

The star of the Polly Pocket movie will be Lily Collins

Lily Collins will play the iconic doll. The "Emily in Paris" star herself announced this back in 2021 with a post on Instagram saying she was excited about the new role: "As a child who was obsessed with Polly Pocket, this is a real dream come true and I can’t wait to bring these tiny toys to the big screen." We expect a new blonde hair look and a colourful and fun wardrobe, perhaps even more interesting than the one the actress wore in the Netflix series that made her popular.

The director will be Lena Dunham

Once again, Mattel has decided to entrust the direction of a puppet film to a female talent in Hollywood: Lena Dunham. Speaking at the Variety microphone, Robbie Brenner, the producer who heads Mattel Films, said it was "an extraordinary collaboration," noting, "Lena is so collaborative and rolls up her sleeves, she likes to take notes and listen. She's amazing." For her part, however, she confessed her love for the mini-doll: "Polly Pocket was responsible for countless hours of childhood escapism for me – Polly gave me a tiny world of magic and autonomy to narrate, so it’s pretty poetic to be tackling these same ideas now as a director collaborating with the brilliant Lily Collins, Robbie Brenner, Mattel and MGM," and then added: "I’m so thrilled to bring to bear both my love of this historic property and also my deep-seated belief that young women need smart playful films that speak to them without condescension." Should we expect the same feminist evolution from cinematic Polly Pocket as we did from Greta Gerwig's Barbie? Given the style and writing of the Girls star, who is also said to be responsible for the screenplay, it is possible that feminism and sisterhood could be among the themes of the new film.

What will the Polly Pocket movie be about?

The plot of Polly Pocket is still top secret, but it appears that the film "n a young girl and a pocket-sized woman who form a friendship." In July 2023, Robbie Brenner stated that the script was ready and "fantastic" Will it be as surprising and interesting as Barbie's?

When will it hit theaters?

There is no release date for the film yet. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in October 2022, Dunham revealed that she had completed the second draft of the script, but with Hollywood paralysed by the WGA and SAG strike, the Polly Pocket film will be delayed like many other film projects and TV series. It is likely that filming for the movie will not start until late 2023 or early 2024.