Barbie: Teaser trailer for Margot Robbie movie pays tribute to sci-fi classic 2001

Watch: First teaser trailer for Barbie, starring Margot Robbie

The first teaser trailer for the upcoming Barbie movie pays tribute to the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey as it introduces Margot Robbie as the famous doll.

Robbie portrays Barbie alongside Ryan Gosling as Ken in the film, which is directed by Lady Bird filmmaker Greta Gerwig.

Read more: Everything we know about the Barbie movie

The duo will be joined by a huge ensemble cast, including Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae and Will Ferrell.

Many of the ensemble cast are rumoured to be playing other versions of Barbie and Ken — a Mattel multiverse, if you will.

Warner Bros has now uploaded the first teaser online, after it briefly played exclusively in cinemas ahead of screenings of Avatar: The Way of Water.

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.

The trailer then shows a few brief glimpses of a delightfully candy-coloured Barbie world — as Aqua would no doubt put it — in which the characters wear very distinctive clothes, and dance... a lot.

Read more: Ryan Gosling's Ken is the talk of the internet in first Barbie photo

Serious talks about a Barbie film have been taking place ever since 2009, though numerous attempts at getting the project moving have stalled.

The project was set up at Sony in 2014, with Amy Schumer originally due to star and Anne Hathaway also attached at one stage.

Warner Bros took over the movie in 2018 and the current iteration took shape, with Robbie soon attached to play the titular doll.

Shortly afterwards, acclaimed filmmaker Greta Gerwig was hired to write the script with her husband Noah Baumbach, and she was later confirmed as director as well.

Read more: Margot Robbie promises big surprises in her Barbie movie

Barbie is due to be released into cinemas during the summer of 2023.

Watch: Margot Robbie says Barbie is "everything you've ever dreamed of"