After 21 years of animated Barbie movies, a live-action adaptation is making its way to the big screen.

Warner Bros. is officially a Barbie girl, and the internet is already living in a Barbie world. Twitter and TikTok have been overrun with real-time coverage of the film’s shooting, with principal photography beginning in England in March 2022. Filming took place across Los Angeles, with appearances from prominent cast members across Venice Beach stirring up plenty of public interest.

With its open set allowing people to get up close and personal with the film’s inner workings, scenes are already being unpicked and decoded, while meme culture refuses to let go of what’s set to be completely unpredictable.

Read more: Watch the first teaser for Barbie

Here’s everything we know about the Barbie movie so far.

When will the Barbie movie be released?

Though the film’s process is still in its early days, the Barbie movie already has a solid release date planned.

The downside is that fans are going to have to wait a little longer to see the end result.

Warner Bros. has scheduled the official Barbie theatrical release for 21 July, 2023. As of yet, there is no schedule for a digital release, though this could be expected around 45 days after in line with the studio’s history.

While nothing is set in stone, audiences could be seeing the Barbie movie online as soon as September 2023.

Who will star in the Barbie movie?

With so many details still unknown, the Barbie movie was quick to announce its star-studded cast.

Margot Robbie is taking on the lead role of Barbie, while Ryan Gosling is set to play opposite her as Ken.

Read more: Margot Robbie promises 'surprising' Barbie movie

With two Oscar nominations each under their belts, Robbie is best known for her roles in I, Tonya and Bombshell, while Gosling has had hits including La La Land and Drive.

Other big names attached include Saoirse Ronan, Dua Lipa and Issa Rae. Rumours are that Rae will star as an alternate version of Barbie, alongside Hari Nef.

The cast is also set to star America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), Jamie Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats), Emerald Fennell (The Crown), Connor Swindells (Sex Education), and Kingsley Ben-Adir (Peaky Blinders). Each of their roles is as yet unknown.

Ana Cruz Kayne, Scott Evans, Sharon Rooney, Rhea Perlman, Michael Cera, Alexandra Shipp, and Kate McKinnon are equally linked to Barbie with undisclosed roles.

Recently-announced Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is set to appear as a Ken doll, with Gosling recently stepping out in a T-shirt with his face on it. Shang-Chi's Simu Liu will portray another.

Will Ferrell will reportedly appear as a CEO of a toy company.

Who is directing Barbie?

While the first iteration of Barbie was announced for 2018 starring Amy Schumer, fan excitement has since been fuelled by the directorial choice of Greta Gerwig.

Gerwig joins the project fresh from her latest feature film Little Women, with Barbie becoming her third outing as a director.

She was originally attached to the film as a co-writer alongside her partner, and long-time collaborator, Noah Baumbach with her directorial role announced in July 2021.

Greta has been pictured multiple times on set, often donning a pink jumpsuit to match the plastic fantastic outfits of the cast.

What do we know about the Barbie movie’s plot?

Unsurprisingly, not much detail has been given to the plot of Barbie so far.

Aside from initial promotional shots that were released in June 2022, and its first teaser trailer, most knowledge of the film has come from public reports on social media. Photos of Robbie and Gosling rollerblading in Los Angeles have caused a lot of public speculation, alongside images of their initial scenes together.

As Barbie’s first live-action film, it’s likely to stay away from what fans have seen in the animations. It’s unknown what time period the film will be set in, or what genre it will embody.

It’s safe to say that audiences should expect the unexpected.

Is there a trailer for the Barbie movie?

The first teaser trailer for Barbie was released in December 2022. It paid tribute to the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey as it introduced Margot Robbie as the famous doll.

The trailer begins with a voice-over, in which children can be seen playing with dolls against a dusty, desert backdrop similar to the opening scenes of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 movie.

"Since the beginning of time, since the first little girl ever existed, there have been dolls. But the dolls were always and forever baby dolls, until..." says the voice-over.

Robbie is then revealed as a gigantic Barbie doll, replacing the monolith which triggers the apes in 2001 to learn how to use weapons.

This causes the infants in the clip to trash their old baby dolls, culminating in a parody of the famous "match cut", with a baby replaced by the Barbie logo.

Will the Aqua song be in Barbie?

As much as fans might like singing along to it, ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua has already been ruled out of a film appearance.

According to Variety, Aqua’s manager Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen has said the song will not be used, with Warner Bros. so far declining to comment.

This is believed to stem from Mattel’s bad blood with the Danish pop band since the song’s release in 1997.

Barbie is coming to cinemas on 21 July, 2023.

Watch: Barbie filming is underway