The early critical acclaim Barbie received was already a big deal, but the Margot Robbie-led movie has also been crushing at the box office (alongside Oppenheimer) in the two weeks since its wide release. At the time of this writing, the feature has made over $835 million worldwide and is likely to join The Super Mario Bros. Movie in crossing the $1 billion mark this year. With a performance like that, Barbie 2 being greenlit would seem like a foregone conclusion, right? Well, not so fast.
Even ignoring the fact that the current writers and actors strikes mean would complicate Warner Bros. Pictures’ plans to announce a sequel in normal circumstances, apparently there’s a more important factor that doesn’t guarantee Barbie 2 will happen. As detailed by THR, unlike what is often done with big franchises these days, talent like Robbie, costar Ryan Gosling and director Greta Gerwig did not sign deals to return for a sequel. This is in sharp contrast with Paramount Pictures announcing it was moving forward with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem sequel one week before the first movie hits theaters.
