The Barbie movie was one of the biggest cultural moments of 2023. It practically broke the internet, grossed $1.4 billion at the box office and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. You could say it was absolute cinema, and in today’s capitalist-first society, you’d expect a sequel announcement pretty damn quick after the first film’s success, right? Wrong.
Three years later, and Barbie 2.0 is still nowhere to be found, all because of a (lack of) contractual obligation, and you guessed it, battles over finances. And if Warner Bros doesn’t sort itself out soon, it might lose the rights to Barbie before it has the chance to give a sequel a crack.
The leads, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, haven’t signed on to star in a second film, and neither has the writer and director, Greta Gerwig.
An article by The New York Times highlighted the fact that if Warner Bros can’t secure a deal by December, Barbie reverts back to Mattel’s ownership. If Warner Bros stuff this up, it’s a huge missed opportunity for them, especially since 2026 hasn’t been a great year for them at the box office. Supergirl only grossed approximately $124 million globally when its filming and marketing budget was $170 million, and The Bride only made $23.9 million worldwide despite costing an estimated $80 million to produce. Yikes.
Why Warner Bros is struggling to get the leads back on board
Apparently, Warner Bros. still needs to reach agreements with the talent involved in the first film. But if Barbie made a bucketload of cash its first time around, why on earth wouldn’t Robbie, Gosling and Gerwig leap at the chance to go for round two?
Three sources told The New York Times that when Warner Bros signed the three onto Barbie, they didn’t include the usual clause of being obligated to return for a sequel pending the performance of the first film. Since they wanted Gerwig to write and direct the movie so badly, they took a risk and let it slide.
The publication reported that Gerwig and her husband, Noah Baumbach, have a story to tell and want to begin writing, but aren’t telling the studio what that idea is until the deal is done. And in order for the deal to be done, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav needs to agree to give Gerwig, Robbie and Gosling more money, which he doesn’t want to do.
Robbie and Gosling are gunning for a deal that includes profit participation (a defined share in the film’s earnings), and Gosling also wants to bump up his salary for the film to $20 million after being nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. Zaslav has said no to both these terms, according to the report.
Warner Bros. co-chairs, Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, released a statement on Monday confirming speculation about the deal with Mattel and attempts to reach an agreement with the main stars of the film, saying: “We have a rights deal with Mattel in place and have made a series of big offers to try and finalise deals to make the next Barbie film. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far.”
Warner Bros has made around half a dozen offers to the team behind the cultural phenomenon that was Barbie, including one of the production company’s biggest offers to date. Their talent reps have reportedly declined them all so far, and have not made a counteroffer.
Even if Warner Bros does reach an agreement with Gerwig, Gosling and Robbie, it would still be years before Barbie 2 hits our screens. So I guess until then, it’ll be rewatch parties only.
Image: Barbie / Warner Bros
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