Margot Robbie to play Barbie in live-action movie.

LOS ANGELES: Australian actress Margot Robbie is to play Barbie in the first live-action feature movie about the iconic and controversial doll, who has enjoyed multiple careers in her 60-year lifetime. Toymaker Mattel and movie studio Warner Bros on Tuesday announced they were partnering to make the film, which will star the Oscar-nominated actress.

Robbie, 28, will also co-produce the film, the companies said in a statement No plot, title or release date was announced for the film, which comes 60 years after the adult-figured Barbie fashion doll was launched in March 1959. Robbie, who was Oscar-nominated for her starring role in the 2017 ice-skating movieI, Tonyaand who appeared in the 2016 superhero movieSuicide Squad, said she hoped the film would "have a tremendously positive impact on children and audiences worldwide." "Barbie has empowered kids to imagine themselves in aspirational roles from a princess to president," the actress said in a statement.

Barbie has adopted...