The fate of Barbie 2 seems more uncertain than ever, as new reports claim that the team has rejected Warner Bros’ “highest offer ever”, despite director Greta Gerwig allegedly having an idea for a sequel.
The 2023 film starring (and co-produced by) Margot Robbie, with Ryan Gosling as Ken, was a huge hit for the film studio, earning rave reviews and making an eye-watering $1.448bn (£1.072bn) at the global box office.
While suggestions of a sequel were shut down by Gerwig and the cast at the time, recent reports have claimed that Robbie, Gosling, Gerwig, and her co-writer husband Noah Baumbach, are in early talks about creating Barbie 2.
open image in galleryWarner Bros is said to be racing against the clock to secure a deal for Barbie 2; if the studio does not make a deal with the principal talent for a sequel by December, the rights to Barbie will reportedly revert to toy manufacturer Mattel.
But despite Barbie being Warner Bros’ highest-grossing film, discussions are said to have stalled as CEO David Zaslav is reportedly unwilling to pay the salaries negotiated for the core team.
According to a new report by Variety, Gerwig and Baumbach have an idea for a sequel, but have rejected each of the six offers made to the core team of four over the past three years.
The latest allegedly rejected offer came this spring, which an insider told the publication is the highest amount Warner Bros has ever offered for a creative team and lead actors. The insider described the claimed amount as “life-changing money”.
However, a different insider disputed this, saying that the individual compensation is not as “historic” as the combined figure.
Either way, the reports suggest that what’s on the table does not compare to the “considerable” financial asks from Robbie, Gosling, who is reportedly asking for $20m (£14.8m), Gerwig and Baumbach, which are said to have considerably increased from the original film.
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open image in galleryInsiders claim that, if the deal isn’t sorted, Mattel will have to reboot the franchise with a film unlinked to Gerwig’s film.
The Independent has contacted Warner Bros for comment.
Upon its release, Barbie became a cultural phenomenon, with fans rocking up to the cinema in pink and cinema-goers urged to turn the experience into an unexpected double feature with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a cultural phenomenon dubbed “Barbenheimer”.