Barbie sequel has run into major impediments.
Warner Bros. has time only till December to finalise the deals with the film's principal stars and director.
Greta Gerwig had already expressed a willingness to work on a new idea for the sequel.
The Barbie sequel is hit bt major hurdles. Warner Bros. only has until December of this year to strike a deal for a sequel movie with the principal talent. Otherwise, the rights will revert to Mattel. If a sequel were to happen, the trio would likely be offered an exorbitant amount of money to return. According to a report in The New York Times, no deal has been reached, and “time is running out.” The rights to Barbie will go back to Mattel if Warner Bros. does not secure deals with Gerwig, Robbie and Gosling in place by December.
As per the report, WBD CEO David Zaslav snubbed the studio’s latest offers to talent as “too generous,” though a Warner Bros. spokeswoman disputed the account and said talent reps have not countered since declining an offer made in May. Gosling’s asking price is $20 million, according to the report. Last week, it was dec;ared at San Diego Comic-Con that Gosling will star in his first superhero movie, Ghost Rider, for Marvel Studios and director Shawn Levy.
“We have a rights deal with Mattel in place and have made a series of big offers to try and finalize deals to make the next Barbie film,” studio co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far.”
Gerwig and her Barbie co-writer Noah Baumbach have had an idea for Barbie 2 for several years. It was first reported in 2024 that the couple was in the “early stages” of developing a story for the sequel.
Mattel’s latest movie, Masters of the Universe, grossed only $113.5 million globally. It recently premiered on Prime Video where it is currently #1 on the platform.
Barbie was released in 2023, grossing $1.5 billion worldwide and going on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, among its eight nods. If no deal is locked by December, Mattel would exit the IP from Warner Bros., which would then have to redesign Barbie, all over again, from scratch, with no “story elements” or talent involved retained from the original. Barbie would basically be rebooted with another studio.
