“Barbie” cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto says he shot “so many scenes” for the Greta Gerwig blockbuster “that didn’t end up in the movie” — including a scene inspired by Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws.”
“There were many moments that ended up on the cutting room floor,” he tells Variety. “There are many things that I imagine will start coming out,” he continued, referencing “Barbie’s” scheduled Sept. 22 IMAX release that will include new post-credit scenes.
Prieto, too, confirms they filmed a “Midge in Labor” scene featuring narrator Helen Mirren and Barbie’s discontinued pregnant friend. “It was a little additional moment [where] Helen Mirren then blocks the camera,” he says. “I can’t really say much more.”
One scene Prieto is keen on discussing is a moment featuring Allan, Ken’s buddy played by Michael Cera, that was inspired by “Jaws.”
“We did this shot on Allan that emulated ‘Jaws,’” he says. “He’s terrified [when] Ken hits a wave and then flies in the air. There’s a moment where the police officer sees someone being eaten in the water.”
He continues, “The camera does this push-in, it’s a move where you use a zoom and you’re dialing into the character while zooming back at the same time. The effect is that the background changes — the shot, and his performance, [were] very dramatic.”
He adds that Gerwig “could not stop laughing when we shot it” and “kept asking the video assistant to replay it for her just to laugh.”
Prieto thinks the “Barbie” team should release a blooper reel just so fans could see all of Will Ferrell’s outtakes. “With Will Ferrell, come on — they should have bloopers from that because he just came up with the craziest stuff,” he says. “All the actors around him couldn’t avoid laughing. We were all playing, and so many moments of improvisation had to be taken out.”
The film’s extended IMAX run was announced shortly before “Barbie” became the highest-grossing film of the year, jumping over Illumination and Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
“We made ‘Barbie’ for the big screen, so it’s a thrill to be able to bring it to Imax, the biggest screen of all,” Gerwig said of the news. “As a special thanks to ‘Barbie’ fans, we’re excited to share a little bit more of our cast and crew’s incredible work by adding special new footage we hope audiences will enjoy.”
