If you thought 2022 was Margot Robbie’s year, just wait for 2023
After strong notices for her work this year, Robbie is positioned for even bigger things, thanks in part to Barbie, easily one of the internet's favorite films
Film Features Robbie
Coming into 2022, Margot Robbie’s star was already on the rise with a growing body of impressive performances in films like I, Tonya and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, not to mention the Suicide Squad films and her own Harley Quinn spinoff sequel Birds Of Prey (which she also produced). A lot of actresses in that position might consider taking some well-earned time off to refresh and regroup, especially with Covid protocols factoring into the way films are made now. Not Margot Robbie. She starred in ambitious back-to-back projects—Amsterdam and Babylon—and still had time to produce more shows and movies with her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment.
As a prolific actress and producer with a willingness to cultivate both emerging and established talent, Robbie’s success can hardly be contained within a single year. We may actually be in the midst of a Margot Robbie era, as she joins actresses Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Elizabeth Banks, and others who have stepped behind the scenes to take control of their own narratives. What’s set Robbie apart is her successful track record in projects and collaborators, qualities that have won her nominations and awards for her work both in front of and behind the camera.
Going back in time
If you’re confused by the similarities between Robbie’s two projects this year—Amsterdam and Babylon—released just a few months apart, you’re probably not alone. While they’re tonally very different (very, very different) they share some of the same jazz-age aesthetics. You might find some of the same words and phrases cropping up their reviews as well, like “chaotic” and “star-studded.” And you’ll often see Robbie’s performances singled out as the best part of both projects. She’s already earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work as ambitious starlet Nellie LaRoy in Babylon, and is expected to get the nod come Oscar time (it would be her third nomination) as well.
Robbie tends to be drawn to roles in period pieces, especially those which allow her to disappear into a character from another time and place. Even when she plays Harley Quinn, she’s so fully immersed it’s hard to see her as anything but that character. Her other notable appearance this year was another trip back in time, in a way. She returned to her roots in a cameo on the final episode of the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, where she got her start playing Donna Freeman from 2008 until 2011.
Robbie’s work on the business side has been more wide-ranging and genre-spanning. This year alone she produced two shows for Hulu—the eight-episode miniseries Mike, based on the life of Mike Tyson, and the second season of Dollface, starring Kat Dennings. She’s also been prepping a number of projects due in the next year.
Looking ahead to 2023
You may have heard of a little film Robbie has coming up in the next year called Barbie, currently scheduled for release in theaters on July 21, 2023. Since the first promotional image of Robbie as Barbie in her classic pink convertible Corvette was released at CinemaCon back in April, every new tidbit of information about the project—including set photos, casting announcements, and behind-the-scenes teases—has been eagerly devoured by the internet. The first teaser, which just dropped last week, launched an avalanche of memes and currently has over 5 million views on YouTube, and counting.
Joining Robbie is an all-star cast that also includes Ryan Gosling as Ken, plus Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrara, Rhea Perlman, Ncuti Gatwa, and Jamie Demetriou. A lot of the excitement for the project can also be attributed to Robbie’s hand-picked choice of director—indie darling Greta Gerwig. Gerwig also co-wrote the screenplay with her husband Noah Baumbach (no stranger to the indie scene himself) and has described the film’s tone as “Knowing but not snarky, buoyant but not vapid.”
Not content to own the summer of 2023 with one film, Robbie is also set to appear in the upcoming Wes Anderson project Asteroid City, opening next June. The story reportedly revolves around a Junior Stargazer and Space Cadet convention that is “spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.” The film’s massive cast also includes Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum.
An actor’s producer
Looking at Robbie’s body of work, a few names come up again and again. Though she’s continually expanding her roster of collaborators, Robbie likes to keep her friends involved. Several of them have even appeared as extras or featured players in her films. In an industry that often strains relationships, forming such productive and ongoing creative partnerships is a good sign you’re doing things right.
Take actress-writer-director Emerald Fennell, for example (last seen playing Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown on Netflix). Robbie produced her feature directing debut Promising Young Woman in 2020, which went on to score five Oscar nominations and a win for Fennell’s original screenplay. Robbie even snuck in a small role for her in Barbie. The two will team up once again for the upcoming film Saltburn for MRC Film and Amazon Studios, which Fennell wrote and is directing. All we know about the plot at this point is that it’s a “story of obsession” centered around an aristocratic English family. It stars Rosamund Pike, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe, and Alison Oliver. It’s expected to premiere in theaters and on streaming later this year.
Robbie will reportedly also soon step into a new Ocean’s 11 prequel, along with her Barbie co-star Gosling. The project, which she’s also producing, will reunite her with director Jay Roach, who helmed the 2019 drama Bombshell (her role as an ambitious Fox News staffer earned her a second Oscar nomination in the supporting category, after being nominated for lead actress for I, Tonya). Set in Europe in the 1960s, It’s yet another period piece for Robbie to dive into. Depending on how much time Robbie and Gosling take off after Barbie, we may see their new crime caper in theaters before the end of 2023.
70 Comments
Acting for women is like modeling. You age out of the industry relatively young. She has a few good years left, so she better make the most of them before she gets relegated to TV mom roles.
I dunno what you’re a doctor of, but it’s neither theater arts nor women’s studies.
Stupid copycat troll account remains stupid (and a pale imitation of a copy of the real Dr Emilio Lizardo)
Marisa Tomei only got relegated to the aunt role, while in her 50s. The “unusually attractive aunt” according to Tony Stark
She’s drop dead and she actually has chops. To quote the great philosopher Wanda Maximoff, “That really doesn’t seem fair.”
I just assume her production company is named after her husband.
I thought it was named after her sturdy leggings and belt. Though, I would also characterize them as “lucky”.
I thought we were putting her out to pasture because she turned 30: https://jezebel.com/bafta-hosted-a-retrospective-of-margo-robbies-career-s-1849816119
Why would anyone be confused about Amsterdam and Babylon?
you mean finding them on a map?
You mean like finding them on a map?
Margot Robbie is incredibly talented. Not sure why COVID protocols “factoring into the way films are made now” would, well, factor into her taking a break though. All it really means for talent is getting tested regularly and wearing a mask on set.
Amsterdam & Babylon: both named after Old World cities despite mostly taking place in the US. The former bombed and the latter appears to be underperforming. Logically (and alphabetically), her next movie should be titled “Canberra”.
As an Australian who used to live and work there, no one wants to go see anything with the name Canberra.
Unfortunately, the title “Chicago” was already claimed for an Oscar-targeted film. But I suppose there’s still Cleveland & Cincinnati in Ohio alone (Columbus was already taken by Kogonada relatively recently).
I think this has been a pretty bad year for Margot Robbie. Amsterdam was a bomb, and Babylon is currently bombing. Two movies with a lot going for them, starring Margot Robbie, with lots of marketing starring Margot Robbie, tons of money being lost. Not that she’s box office poison, but it’s a lot of evidence that she can’t draw a crowd.
Yeah it’s a really interesting question just what was the cause of these films bombing. I think Robbie can draw a crowd, but she’s not so big that people will overlook the problems of the films she’s in. Amsterdam got dire reviews, and Babylon’s are middling at best. Both films were badly marketed. It was never clear what we were supposed to be seeing. Just that they were movies with a lot of famous faces. That’s not enough. Plus, I think Robbie may have been hamstrung by her costars. I’m sorry but Brad Pitt is over the hill, and Christian Bale is no spring chicken either. I think Barbie will do well, because you more or less know what you’re getting there – Barbie! – and you’ve got a great cast of younger stars in their prime, and a director who, I think, is better than Chazelle or David O Russell, one who is more interested in the future, than the past, who represents the new, instead of rhapsodizing about the old. Still it is a worrisome trend, and I hope Robbie takes notes from Jennifer Lawrence, whose career has definitely taken a hit from 1) overexposure and 2) poor choice of roles. lawrence is now trying to reset her career, doing work she should’ve been doing ten years ago when it counted. Robbie is a terrific actor, but she’ll have plenty of time to be a star, but only so much time to hone her craft and be an artist.
Christian Bale is no spring chicken either.I think Barbie will do well, because you more or less know what you’re getting there – Barbie! – and you’ve got a great cast of younger stars in their primeI just want to point out that Ryan Gosling, who is part of the main Barbie cast, is only 6 years younger than Christian Bale. They’re both in their 40’s.
“I’m sorry but Brad Pitt is over the hill”Bullet Train would like a word.
I have no clue what you are smoking, but saying Greta Gerwig is a better Director than David O. Russel is lunacy. Greta has made two noteworthy films, one of which was just one of 100 remakes with Little Women. Russel has made Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings, The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle. Let’s keep our heads here. Barbie might be good but it has way more of a chance to be an absolute mess of a film.
“one who is more interested in the future, than the past”Yeah, Lady Bird, which took place 20 years ago, Little Women,which is a period piece, and f*cking BARBIE sure is the work of someone interested in the future, not the past.Is there room up your ass for any other body parts or does your head fill the whole cavity?
Re: Whether Robbie is a draw for audiences:As a fellow cinephile, I must confess something: I feel like I must be missing a gene, because I really don’t get it. Robbie is obviously beautiful, but she looks almost exactly like Jaime Pressly—and Emma Mackey and Samara Weaving, for that matter. I honestly can’t say that I find any of Robbie’s performances to be miles above any of those other actors’, yet I don’t remember any of their faces launching a thousand pop culture blog posts about just how singularly talented they are. I know it’s me, not her, but I just had to share. (Incidentally, I feel the same way about Leonardo DiCaprio).
I get where you’re coming from. I mean, Robbie has screen presence for sure, but she’s not a strong actor in my opinion. She doesn’t disappear into roles. You’re always aware you’re seeing Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate or Tanya Harding. And as you say, she’s beautiful in a non-descript sort of way, and I don’t find her as interesting an actor as Mackey or Weaving. She’s not Jessie Buckley or Florence Pugh or Jessica Chastain or Alicia Vikander, who are all beautiful people but more than that, they’re interesting actors with range who, even when they’re in trainwrecks, you still want to see them because you know they’re going to be interesting. They are actors whose careers will be long and diverse. Robbie…I really don’t know yet, and that’s a problem at this point, considering she’s been a major actor for ten years now.
Jessica Chastain and Alicia Vikander have range?! I guess good acting must be in the eye of the beholder, because I usually find Chastain completely unconvincing and Vikander totally forgettable.
I’m a little less convinced about Barbie than it sounds like you are. It seems like it’s trying to straddle a lot of lines, and I’m not sure who is supposed to be going to see it. It’s kid-adjacent, but not really for kids. The people making it compare it to The Lego Movie, but that was PG and made by comedy directors, whereas Barbie is PG-13, indie filmmakers, and it also cost $100 million compared to Lego Movie’s $65 million. I have a hard time seeing older people going to see it, or people going on dates, or boys going to see Barbie with their friends. I think Margot Robbie is a better actress than she is a producer. She doesn’t seem to be all that plugged into what audiences want, or maybe she’s signing on to do movies that she doesn’t really want to do. Suicide Squad was a box office success, and Harley Quinn was the breakout character, but she didn’t like a lot about it, so when she had a lot more authority, made Birds of Prey, which might be a movie she’s happier with but not so true about the audience. And her pitch about Barbie is that it’s not at all what anyone expects from a movie about Barbie. I do get that subverting expectations is fun, but it’s risky, because fundamentally it’s saying that if the concept appeals to you, think again, while hoping that people who don’t find the concept interesting will be convinced to give it a chance.
I think this says a lot more about the viability of non-IP prestige films than about any actor in them.
So Margot Robbie can get people to go see bad movies?
Margot Robbie can get people to do many unwise, inappropriate things to sealife, if she chooses to do so.
It would be nice if she could be cast in better vehicles, however, instead of producers hoping that she’ll just increase the income of bad films.
Has she “gotten” anyone to see any film? What film that was trading on her supposed bankability made money? Her films with DiCaprio weren’t relying on her, and the Harley Quinn movies didn’t do well either.
Are you “getting” that this isn’t serious or are you attempting the ultimate user name synergy by cramming your head firmly up your tuchis?
Wasn’t some attack. More replying to the comment I saw to make the one I was already going to make. Don’t get the hostility.
No. Amsterdam and Babylon both bombed.
Not just bombs this year, but Robbie had bombs in 2021 (The Suicide Squad) and 2020 (Birds of Prey) too. I think she’s great and obviously beautiful, but she’s on an incredible cold streak. Maybe Barbie will do well, but I can’t say for sure.
Due in part to the vagaries of the release schedule, Michael Fassbender went ice cold in 2016. He arguably hasn’t really recovered.
Amsterdam didn’t bomb because of Robbie though. While she was part of the starring cast, the movie mostly focused on Bale and Washington. She sort of comes and goes. But with that said, I don’t think any of the cast is to blame. I tried watching it and I got 3/4 of the way through before turning it off. There’s just waaaaaaay to much dialog and exposition, yet somehow, the premise of the movie isn’t entirely clear until the end (at least, where I reached).
Actors don’t draw crowds anymore, franchise names do
Don’t forget also that Birds of Prey was a complete flop.
“Not that she’s box office poison, but it’s a lot of evidence that she can’t draw a crowd.”In what way? She is in two very poorly-reviewed movies, why would you blame her drawing power? Why is it her fault and not Bale’s and Pitt’s fault? Why isn’t it the directors’ faults?
Yes, with two films that combined will make under $30 million, I definitely wouldn’t call 2022 a good year for Margot Robbie.
Amsterdam didn’t even overly feature Robbie – the trailers I saw spent more time showing the 8-10 famous people they had cast (including Taylor Swift) than it did in explaining what the movie was about.Really the same was true for Babylon – the short trailers just focus on the famous people in it and mostly shows them partying.It’s like both of those movies didn’t think they had to bother convincing people to go watch them.
It’s not necessarily her fault that those movies are bombing, she always does great with her characters and she’s on-point with her acting. I think the article was trying to stress how she’s having a great year based on the opportunities she’s creating for herself with her production company, not necessarily the box office results.
She’s incredible, but I have one gripe and it’s her American accent. Normally, I wouldn’t care about this, but I feel like I need to mention it because her roles are predominantly American characters. It’s always a slight variation of Harley Quinn, and she almost always vaguely sounds like she’s from somewhere in NYC. She talented, maybe she just needs a better vocal coach. Also; a new Ocean’s 11 prequelStop trying to make Ocean’s 11 spin-offs happen Hollywood.
I re-watched Ocean’s 8 recently, and not a lot of it really worked. Maybe it’s because the Clooney movies felt like the crews were sticking it to some asshole that deserved it, and Ocean’s 8 they were just stealing shit. Like Bullock’s character runs up a big hotel bill on some random couple’s credit card. They just kind of seemed like assholes in Ocean’s 8.
If you thought 2022 was Margot Robbie’s yearThe thought never once occurred to me.just wait for 2023I mean… do I have a choice? Believe me if I could I would freeze myself for a few decades and hope I wake up in a utopia future and not this shitshow we are clearly sliding into. Wow guess I’m in one of THOSE moods today, huh? Dipper Downer.
Anyway.. Margot Robbie? Yeah no she seems pretty cool.
I love Robbie but saying she’s had a great year without mentioning that both of her films were huge bombs feels almost dishonest, especially since neither film was particularly well-reviewed (although she was). With her Harley Quinn movie not doing very well either, I’m not that optimistic for the prospects of Barbie. She has a lot range and an affinity for weird, not necessarily likable characters, which makes her an interesting actress but probably not a very bankable one. I don’t expect her trend of expensive movies to last very long.
I think the only people really excited to see the Barbie movie are collectors.
You would be wrong. It’s already becoming a huge thing on the internet.
Like Snakes on a Plane?
I’ve never owned anything Barbie, but I think the movie looks like it could be fun- potentially very weird, but fun.
I went back to collecting dolls again after getting my Barbies out of storage. The only Barbie I bought this year was the Bowie one and I only got her because I’m a fan of his. But the quality isn’t there anymore and they are way too expensive. Luckily their are other quality made and affordable fashion dolls out there.
So are we having a “Margaissance” or a “Robbaissance”? It doesn’t really matter, I’m wearing the same pantsuit either way, I just want to be able to talk the talk with the beautiful people.
I’m not sure having two critical and box office bombs can be considered as “having a year” but next year should be a good rebound for her.
“A lot of actresses in that position might consider taking some well-earned time off” LIKE WHO?
Aubrey “I pay a lot of coin for this constant fucking coverage” Plaza perhaps?
Aubrey Plaza. When was the last time you saw her in anything?
A couple months ago?
Six seconds ago, but to be fair I have a continuous projection of all her work on the wall above my desk.
Whew, I was sure that was going in a “but to be fair I have a high-powered telescope and a number of cameras around her house” kinda direction.
I didn’t say I don’t have those things.
Emily the Criminal bro, pretty fresh out
At this point, if you told me Hollywood only has two working actresses, Margot Robbie and Anya Taylor-Joy, I’d believe you.I swear, they are in every film. And even together in Amsterdam…I mean good for them, but the pickings sure are slim for the rest.
Don’t forget Florence Pugh! Someone has to be in the other 33% of movies.
Especially ones with oral. Because you have to remember about the oral. Oral. – Olivia Wilde
HE DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THE ORAL
I’m officially requesting an update on her “Tank Girl” movie! LuckyChap got the rights, there was a director attached, and then…?
“If you thought 2022 was Margot Robbie’s year”Did anyone think that? Like, literally anyone?
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“Pitt is over the Hill…Bale is no Spring chicken.” If a man said that about a woman you’d cry foul for being a misogynistic pig.
Margot Robbie is great, but I agree with other commenters that she needs to pick her roles better.
Like – are you being asked to do a Pirates of the Caribbean thing? Don’t do that. Run far the fuck away from it.
So how many of her movies this year have actually made a profit????