Warner Bros.’ hopes for another trip to Barbie Land appear to be facing a costly setback. Talks with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and the original creative team have yet to produce a deal as a key rights deadline approaches.
According to reports, director Greta Gerwig already has a “Barbie 2” story ready but is keeping it from the studio until the deals are finalized.
Plans for a second “Barbie” movie have reportedly stalled as Warner Bros. Discovery struggles to secure new deals with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and the film’s creative team.
According to The New York Times, CEO David Zaslav has resisted offering Robbie and Gosling lucrative contracts that include profit participation. Gosling, who earned an Oscar nomination for playing Ken, is reportedly seeking a salary increase to $20 million.
The studio did not lock the cast into sequel agreements before the original film because the stars signed one-picture contracts as part of the deal to bring Greta Gerwig aboard as director. That means every major participant is now free to renegotiate following the movie’s $1.4 billion box-office run.
Warner Bros. co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca said the studio has made several “big offers” but has yet to reach an agreement. A spokesperson also denied that an approved deal framework had later been withdrawn.
Greta Gerwig Reportedly Keeping ‘Barbie 2’ Under Wraps
Beyond the money, another supposed big sticking point in the “Barbie 2” negotiations is the story itself. Gerwig and her husband and longtime writing partner, Noah Baumbach, are said to have already settled on a concept for the sequel and are ready to begin writing.
However, the pair reportedly won’t reveal a single plot detail to Warner Bros. until their contracts are finalized, giving them an unusual advantage in the ongoing talks.
The strategy marks a notable shift from Gerwig’s earlier stance. After “Barbie” became the highest-grossing film of 2023, she repeatedly insisted a sequel would only happen if she discovered another story worth telling. “If I find the undertow, then we get it. If I don’t find an undertow, there’s no more,” she said while accepting TIME’s Women of the Year honor in 2024.
Reports that Gerwig and Baumbach had cracked that story first surfaced late that same year, though Warner Bros. and representatives for the filmmakers publicly disputed that development at the time.
Why ‘Barbie’ Could Be Forced To Start Over From Scratch
Warner Bros. faces a December deadline to begin developing the sequel. If the studio fails to strike a deal before then, the “Barbie” franchise would effectively revert the sequel rights to Mattel, giving the toy giant full control of the property once again. But the company wouldn’t inherit the foundation Warner Bros. has spent years building.
The NY Times report says Mattel would have to redevelop the franchise from scratch, meaning it could not take the existing story elements or the filmmakers and stars attached to the current project to another studio.
That would leave Gerwig’s reported sequel idea on the shelf unless a new agreement is eventually reached. It would also put the future of Robbie, Gosling, and the rest of the original creative team in serious doubt.
‘Narnia’ Is Keeping Gerwig Busy
Warner Bros. might have to make a decision pretty soon on just how much it wants Gerwig to write and direct a “Barbie” sequel, given just how packed her slate already is.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker is currently focused on “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” her ambitious adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved fantasy novel for Netflix. Gerwig wrote, directed and produced the film, which stars Daniel Craig, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep.
The project is scheduled for a global theatrical release on Feb. 12, 2027, before debuting on Netflix on April 2.
The Cast Has Always Been Cautious About ‘Barbie 2’
The cast of “Barbie” has often been reluctant to promise fans a return to Barbie Land.
Speaking to TIME after the film’s record-breaking run, Robbie said discussions about the franchise had taken place but stressed that nothing had been decided. “It could go a million different directions from this point,” she said, adding that filmmakers can fall into “a bit of a trap” by trying to plan sequels while making the first movie.
Ryan Gosling has been just as guarded. During a fan Q&A at London’s BFI Southbank, the actor dismissed questions about a follow-up, saying, “I’m not going anywhere near that. We really know nothing.”
Still, Gosling couldn’t resist having a little fun with the idea. After insisting he had no inside information, he joked about Ken’s possible next evolution. “Can it be a Husky Ken? Can I play Husky Ken… like Sandwich Ken?” he asked, per Variety.
