It’s clear what Warner Bros is doing with their NYC/L.A. screenings tonight, the first one, of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”
Not many, if any, trade critics were invited. There’s no THR, Variety, The Wrap etc. It’s all quote whores, “Film Twitter” and a highly curated audience of moviegoers drooling at the thought of watching this film, then going on social media and raving about it. It’s as predictable as day turning into night.
A high-profile critic, who wasn’t invited, tells me that “none” of her film critic friends —on either coast— are going, adding “I’m not sure what’s going on.”
Another critic tells me “they are being incredibly selective. Seems like they are hiding something.”
It’s not just anonymous critics either. The Wrap’s Tomris Laffly and Variety’s David Rooney also vented their frustration on the strange screening rollout of Gerwig’s film, via Twitter.
Whatever the reason, we’re going to be getting some early reactions tonight. Whether they are to be taken seriously is a whole other story. I’ll update this post when they start to pop up.
There’s a lot of talent involved with “Barbie” (Gerwig, Baumbach, Prieto, Desplat), so I refuse to believe that it’s a bad movie, but the way Warner Bros has decided to roll this one out is being seen by many as a major red flag.
“Barbie” will be released in theaters on July 21.