Three years after Greta Gerwig’s Barbie grossed $1.5 billion worldwide, Warner Bros. Discovery still has not greenlit a sequel. The studio faces a December deadline to secure agreements with Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling or lose the film rights back to Mattel.
Negotiations have continued for several months with little progress. Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav has reportedly called some offers too generous, including a $20 million payday for Gosling and profit participation tied to box office performance. A Warner Bros. spokesperson told The New York Times that talent declined the studio’s latest offer in May, and no counter-offer has been made since.
Gerwig’s original contract, which she negotiated to exclude sequel obligations, meant Warner Bros. proceeded on the first film without a guaranteed follow-up.
Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz has not commented directly on the negotiations but told The New York Times in May: “We expect projects to move and be in active development. We don’t want to sit on the back burner.”
The Warner Bros.-Paramount Skydance merger, currently paused amid antitrust litigation, adds further complexity, as the studio must continue operating independently while Barbie remains central to its franchise strategy.
The original film earned eight Oscar nominations, winning Best Original Song, while Barbie the Album won the 2024 Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Source: Consequence
