Remember when Beanie Babies broke the internet? Well, the iconic toy is now landing its own biopic for audiences to see what it really takes to build a cuddly stuffed animal from scratch.
Apple’s “The Beanie Bubble” charts the rise and fall of ingenious collectible stuffed animals, with Elizabeth Banks and Zach Galifianakis playing the real-life toy titans who invented the craze. In a twist of toy-driven nostalgic doom, “The Beanie Bubble” opens in select theaters the same weekend as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
According to the official synopsis, why has the world suddenly treated stuffed animals like gold? Ty Warner (Galifianakis) was a frustrated toy salesman until his partnership with three women turned his brilliant idea into the biggest toy craze in history.
“Succession” star Sarah Snook plays Warner’s wife (and one-third of the love triangle opposite Banks) while “Blockers” star Geraldine Viswanathan plays a Warner employee who predicts the bubble will burst.
“The Beanie Bubble” is co-directed by real-life married duo Kristin Gore and OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash. Gore wrote the film after working on “Futurama,” “The Oscars” and co-writing the 2014 film “War Story” with director Mark Jackson. “The Beanie Bubble” is Gore’s directorial debut.
“The Beanie Bubble” is executive produced by Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Karen Lunder and executive produced by star Galifianakis and Douglas S. Jones.
This marks Galifianakis’ first appearance in a live-action film since the 2019 independent film ‘The Sunlit Night’. The comic actor will play Jumba in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and is confirmed to star in Susanna Fogel’s “Winner” based on the true story of NSA whistleblower Reality Winner, with Emilia Jones portraying the veteran. Tina Satter’s recent HBO film “Reality” starring Sydney Sweeney used real-life transcripts from Winner’s arrest.
Meanwhile, Galifianakis’ “Beanie Bubble” co-star Banks is in pre-production on the “Flintstones” animated reboot “Bedrock,” voicing Pebbles. Banks will also helm Alex Prager’s artificial intelligence thriller “DreamQuil” opposite John C. Reilly.
“The Beanie Bubble” will premiere in select theaters on July 21 and worldwide on Apple TV+ on July 28. Watch the trailer below.
