The forthcoming Barbie film will not include Aqua’s 1997 hit ‘Barbie Girl’, it’s been reported.
Earlier this week, Warner Bros. Pictures shared the first-look image of Margot Robbie in character as Barbie for the new live-action movie.
Robbie will star alongside Ryan Gosling as Ken, and a wider ensemble cast including Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Sex Education stars Emma Mackey and Ncuti Gatwa, America Ferrera and more.
According to Variety, Barbie will not feature the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group’s novelty single as part of its official soundtrack.
The publication noted that many fans have insisted that ‘Barbie Girl’ – which has registered over a billion streams on YouTube – should appear in the Mattel/Warner Bros. film. However, Variety said it understands that there are no plans for this to happen.
Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen, who manages Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm, told the outlet: “The song will not be used in the movie.”
While there isn’t currently a known reason for the track’s apparent absence, there’s previously been disputes between Aqua and US toy company Mattel, who created and own the Barbie brand.
The firm filed a lawsuit against MCA Records (now part of Universal Music), which distributed ‘Barbie Girl’ in the US, for trademark infringement. Mattel took issue with the song’s suggestive lyrics, fearing they could harm Barbie’s image.
In the filing, the company claimed that Aqua’s tune featured “a promiscuous Barbie doll singing in a flirtatious tone” alongside a “licentious Ken doll respond[ing] ‘kiss me here, touch me there’.”