Barbie cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto says that he shot many scenes that didn't make the final cut, including one with Michael Cera inspired by Jaws. Cera plays Ken's discontinued buddy Allan in Barbie.
“There were many moments that ended up on the cutting room floor,” says Prieto to Variety. “There are many things that I imagine will start coming out. We did this shot on Allan that emulated Jaws. 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. 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.”
Preito adds that director Greta Gerwig “could not stop laughing when we shot it” and “kept asking the video assistant to replay it for her just to laugh.”
More Funny Barbie Moments Were Left on the Cutting-Room Floor
Prieto acknowledges that Gerwig filmed a “Midge in Labor” scene narrated by Helen Mirren about Barbie's discontinued pregnant gal pal. “It was a little additional moment [where] Helen Mirren then blocks the camera,” he says. “I can’t really say much more.”
Prieto says that Warner Bros. should release a blooper reel so that fans can enjoy Will Ferrell 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.”
Barbie gets an IMAX upgrade on September 22 when it returns to theaters — not that it ever completely left. “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,” said Gerwig. “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.” No word yet if any of the described deleted scenes — including Cera's Jaws-inspired scene — will be tacked on to the IMAX version.
Barbie is the highest-grossing movie of 2023. It is available for digital purchase or rental at providers such as Amazon and Vudu. The 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD editions of Barbie — which are likely to include bonus features such as deleted scenes and blooper reels — drop on January 2, 2024.