Lena Dunham is no longer working on the Polly Pocket movie

Lena Dunham is pocketing her adaptation of a Polly Pocket movie.

The Girls alum revealed in a new interview with The New Yorker that she is no longer attached to Mattel’s Polly Pocket movie, conceding that maybe she didn’t “have that in me” to follow in Barbie filmmaker Greta Gerwig‘s footsteps in making something so distinct and unique to her.

“I’m not going to make the Polly Pocket movie,” Dunham said. “I wrote a script, and I was working on it for three years. But I remember someone once said to me about Nancy Meyers: the thing that’s the most amazing about her is that the movie she makes or the movie she would be making with or without a studio, with or without notes — that somehow her taste manages to intersect perfectly with what the world wants.”

She continued: “What a f—ing gift that is. And Nora Ephron, too, who was such a mentor to me, but always said, ‘Go be weird. Don’t kowtow to anyone.’ And I think Greta managed this incredible feat [with Barbie], which was to make this thing that was literally candy to so many different kinds of people and was perfectly and divinely Greta.”

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Dunham felt that “unless I can do it that way, I’m not going to do it,” she explained. “I don’t think I have that in me. I feel like the next movie I make needs to feel like a movie that I absolutely have to make. No one but me could make it. And I did think other people could make Polly Pocket.”

Mattel Films previously announced that Dunham would write, direct, and produce a film about the toy line of dolls, with Lily Collins also attached to star and co-produce. A brief description said the story would follow a “young girl and a pocket-sized woman who form a friendship.” The brand is also developing a series of other toy movie adaptations following the success of Barbie, including ones centered around Hot Wheels, American Girl dolls, and Barney.

A Mattel spokesperson said the Polly Pocket movie is still in active development when reached by Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday. “We look forward to sharing updates on the project soon,” the spokesperson said. “Lena is a remarkable writer and creator and we wish her all the best!”

From Gerwig and star and producer Margot Robbie, Barbie followed Robbie’s title doll as she experienced an existential crisis and embarked on a journey from Barbie Land to the real world. Ryan Gosling played the unforgettable Ken to her Barbie. The 2023 summer blockbuster — which picked up eight nominations and one win (for best original song) at the 2024 Academy Awards — grossed a whopping $1.4 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman.