Lena Dunham is no longer attached to the upcoming live-action movie about Polly Pocket.
The "Girls" creator and star told The New Yorker in a new interview that she dropped out of writing, directing and producing the movie after realizing her version of the Polly Pocket story wouldn't connect with audiences in the same way director Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" did.
"I’m going to tell you something here that I haven’t told anyone: I’m not going to make the Polly Pocket movie," said Dunham. "I wrote a script, and I was working on it for three years. But I remember someone once said to me about Nancy Meyers: the thing that’s the most amazing about her is that the movie she makes or the movie she would be making with or without a studio, with or without notes— that somehow her taste manages to intersect perfectly with what the world wants."
"What a f------ gift that is. And Nora Ephron, too, who was such a mentor to me, but always said, ‘Go be weird. Don’t kowtow to anyone,'" she continued.
Dunham went on to cite Gerwig's "incredible feat" of making a blockbuster "Barbie" movie that was "literally candy" to "so many different kinds of people" while also being "perfectly and divinely Greta."
"And I just — I felt like, unless I can do it that way, I’m not going to do it. I don’t think I have that in me," said Dunham.
The “Polly Pocket” movie, which was first announced in June 2021, will feature “Emily in Paris” star Lily Collins as Polly Pocket, the other Mattel doll that stole kids’ hearts with her fun-loving spirit and girl power.
The movie will tell the story of a young girl and a pocket-sized woman who form a friendship.
In July 2023, Robbie Brenner, the head of Mattel Films, told Variety that the script Dunham had written for the family-friendly comedy was a “great” one.
“First of all, they are two of my favorite ladies ever,” Brenner said of the Dunham-Collins team. “It’s been an amazing collaboration. Lena is so collaborative and rolls up her sleeves and really likes to roll around in notes and listen. She’s incredible."
"Lily is so smart and so specific and so productorial. It’s just been an incredible collaboration, so we are thrilled about it. Hopefully, we’ll be making that at some point in the future," she added.
Collins, who will also serve as one of the movie's producers, previously told Variety that she was excited to play Polly in the film. "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,” Collins said.
The Polly Pocket dolls, which were first licensed to Bluebird Toys in England, took the toy world by storm in the early 1980s. The micro-dolls, which were about an inch tall, were paired with tiny plastic cases that opened to form dollhouses and other fun accessories.
Later in the '80s, Mattel acquired Polly Pocket, making the dolls larger and more lifelike. The dolls have gone on to change size in various incarnations over the year.
Barbie and Polly Pocket are hardly the only Mattel toys with their sights set on the silver screen.
Mattel Films is also hoping to make live-action movies featuring Barney the dinosaur, American Girls dolls, the Masters of the Universe toy line and Hot Wheels, reported Variety.
