Plans for a Barbie film sequel have stalled following high-profile salary disputes involving lead star Margot Robbie and co-star Ryan Gosling, according to industry reports.
Robbie, the Australian actress who both starred in and produced the blockbuster comedy, reportedly earned $50 million (£37 million) for her work on the first installment according to Page Six. The original film went on to gross more than $1.4 billion (£1 billion) at the global box office following its release three years ago.
Robbie is an Oscar-nominated actress who previously starred in films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and I, Tonya, serving as a lead producer on Barbie through her production company.
Hopes for a second movie are now in crisis as studio executives at Warner Bros. are reportedly refusing to pay the salaries negotiated for Robbie, Gosling, and their principal co-stars.
Warner Bros. has made more than six life-changing financial offers to the creative team in the three years since Barbie was released, but all of those proposals have been rejected. While some sources describe the studio's offers as substantial, other insiders claim the figure offered to Robbie and her co-stars is not as historic as the combined total suggests.
Warner Bros salary offers and executive refusal
Gosling is allegedly asking for $20 million (£16 million) to reprise his Oscar-nominated role as Ken in the proposed sequel.
Gosling earned widespread critical praise and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ken in the original film.
Negotiations between studio heads and talent have been ongoing for months, according to The New York Times. The studio's proposals included upfront pay raises, such as paying Gosling his $20 million asking price, alongside backend profit participation if the movie reached specific box office milestones.
However, David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, refused to sign off on the proposed deals after deciding that the offers and profit-sharing triggers were too generous.
Zaslav oversees Warner Bros. Discovery, the global entertainment conglomerate that distributes Warner Bros. feature films.
Mattel rights deadline and studio statement
The studio faces a looming deadline to resolve the financial standoff, as rights to produce a second film will revert back to toy manufacturer Mattel in December if no deal is reached.
Mattel is the multinational toy manufacturing corporation that owns the original Barbie brand and intellectual property.
Studio co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca confirmed the ongoing deadlock in an official statement detailing the negotiations.
"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," Abdy and De Luca said. "Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far."
Director plans and sequel script details
Director Greta Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach have reportedly been putting together plans to bring Barbie back for a second film. The pair received an Academy Award nomination for their work on the original movie's screenplay.
Gerwig is an American filmmaker known for directing films such as Lady Bird and Little Women, while Baumbach is an Oscar-nominated writer and director known for Marriage Story.
Gerwig is believed to already have a story idea in place for Barbie 2, but she is withholding the details until a formal film deal is finalized, according to The New York Times.
During a Writers Guild of America West Q&A panel moderated by director Judd Apatow in October 2023, Gerwig explained her reluctance to share concepts early in development.
"I find whenever I've shared ideas too early, they become bad, then the movie's not going to be any good," Gerwig said. "I don't like to talk about things too early or pitch things or show treatments too early because it feels like it's gonna somehow wreck what the movie is."
Representatives for Robbie, Gosling, and Warner Bros. have been approached for comment regarding the status of the sequel negotiations.
