Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated Barbie has created plenty of buzz ahead of its release next month, with images of the iconic doll’s Dreamhouse brought to life in vibrant shades of pink going viral on social media.
While previews of the film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, have been generating a lot of excitement in recent weeks, the project has also been creating a splash in the art world.
In an interview with Architectural Digest, the movie’s production designer, Sarah Greenwood, revealed that construction of the sets led to an international run on the fluorescent pink Rosco paint used to create the perfect backdrop for Barbie and Ken’s day-to-day life.
“The world ran out of pink,” she told the magazine.
“I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much,” director Gerwig noted in the same interview, adding that she wanted the production to reflect “what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.”
Lauren Proud, vice president of global marketing at Rosco, the movie’s paint supplier, confirmed to Coins2Day on Monday that the movie had indeed sparked a global shortage of a specific shade of its paint.
“Production designer Sarah Greenwood had such a specific vision for the Barbie set, and we love to see our paint being used to bring artistic visions to life—especially when it’s in such bright, fluorescent pink,” she said.
Rosco’s paints are specifically formulated for use in theater, television, and film production.
“The sets were being designed and built during a time of global supply-chain issues. But we delivered everything we could—they got it all,” Proud told Coins2Day via email. “[Still] I’m happy to say that Rosco’s fluorescent pink is back in stock for anyone who’s thinking of creating their own Dreamhouse.”
Barbie, which features a cast packed full of A-list names, including Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Helen Mirren, America Ferrera, Michael Cera, and Ncuti Gatwa, hits U.S. Theaters on July 21.