Getting back to Barbieland is turning out to be harder than anyone expected.
A follow-up to 2023’s Barbie has run into a substantial obstacle in the form of the talent deals, and the clock is against it.
The New York Times reports that Warner Bros. has until December to conclude agreements with director and co-writer Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Miss that date and the rights return to Mattel.
Talks have reportedly been running for months, with the studio putting substantial pay packages on the table, including a slice of the profits should the sequel clear certain box office thresholds. According to the report, Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav has withheld approval on the grounds that the terms were “too generous.”
The paper also noted that a Warner Bros. spokesperson rejected that account, saying representatives for the talent turned down an offer made in May and never responded with a counteroffer.
“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.”
Some fans would rather it stayed unmade
A stalemate now does not close the door on a sequel. But a fair number of admirers of the original would prefer Gerwig and her cast walk away and leave it untouched — one half of the Barbenheimer moment, and evidence that a strong idea and a sharp script can lift a project that might otherwise have amounted to little more than brand advertising.
The first film took more than $1.4 billion worldwide and collected eight Oscar nominations. It remains the highest-grossing film directed by a woman, ahead of Frozen II, which Jennifer Lee co-directed with Chris Buck, and Captain Marvel, co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
