Todd Haynes Once Made A Strange Movie About Karen Carpenter… With Barbies

Warner Bros Pictures confirmed at CinemaCon 2022 in Las Vegas that the new movie, Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, will hit the theaters by July 21. The film, which will center on the forceful exit of a doll living in Barbieland due to her so-called imperfections, will star actors like Margot Robbie, who plays the titular role, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, and Hari Nef.

However, this new movie is not the first time dolls are used as Todd Haynes had earlier directed a film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, in the late 1980s, which is notable for its use of Barbie dolls to depict the characters. The movie focuses on Karen’s rise to fame as part of the musical duo The Carpenters, which she formed with her brother Richard.

Christine Vachon says ‘Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story’ sparked up controversies

The production of Hayne’s movie sparked up some controversies as Mattel, a doll-making company, and the Carpenter family both had problems with the directors. During the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Christine Vachon, who produced the movie, revealed that Mattel paid a visit to their office upon the film’s release to claim compensation for the use of Barbie dolls. However, Haynes had cleverly managed to stay a step ahead of the company’s concerns.

RELATED: Karen Carpenter Is Stunning In A Vocals-Only Version Of “Close To You”

“Todd bought all those dolls in garage sales,” she admitted. “They were Barbie rip-offs, so he was able to prove to Mattel that it was an off-brand. That it wasn’t Barbie, but it was what you got if your parents couldn’t afford Barbie.”

The producer further explained that despite successfully navigating the issue with Mattel, the director also encountered another obstacle from Richard Carpenter, Karen’s brother, as regards the usage of The Carpenters’ music. Vachon stated that Haynes did not seek permission for the songs featured in the film because he never expected to garner the attention it got. Ultimately, Richard took legal action against Haynes and prevailed in the lawsuit, thus blocking any possibility of the film being released in cinemas.

Todd Haynes says ‘Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story’ will eventually hit the theaters

Vachon revealed that Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story has achieved a cult following despite the setbacks. “It pops up on YouTube all the time. It’s kind of like Whac-A-Mole. It pops up and gets taken down. Pops up again and gets taken down, so you can almost certainly find it,” the producer confessed. “And now it’s been restored. There’s a wonderful version that keeps popping up, and it’s the true director’s cut.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, Haynes expressed his confidence in the eventual public release of the movie. “There have been some legal opinions written about the film that seems favorable to a way through. But there’s a lot more work that I need to do that I haven’t had time to, which is annotate the film and provide all of the sources of information and so forth,” he told the news outlet. “It’s been shown a couple of times, not announced publicly, and not for any fee, not for any ticket, under the terms of its cease and desist. But it has been remastered by UCLA and Sundance a couple years ago, and it looks so beautiful. Every time I see it now, I’m just like, Oh, man, I’m so lucky that we have this version out there.”