Barbie To Get Reboot With New Cast? Sequel In Trouble As Deal With Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling Looms At Warner Bros

Three years after Barbie became a worldwide box-office sensation, the future of the franchise is unclear. Warner Bros. is ready to hit the ground running with a sequel to the blockbuster, which grossed more than $1.4 billion around the globe. But the studio said talks with key creative talent are facing a snag, and it has a critical deadline to meet. If the deal fails to go through by the end of the year, the franchise rights could revert to Mattel, the toy company that owns the iconic doll, and Warner Bros. would lose one of its biggest hits of recent times. Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was a global box office smash, the studio’s highest-grossing film ever. It was nominated for multiple Academy Awards.

Following the massive success of  in 2023, it was an obvious and expected move for Warner Bros. to do a sequel. However, despite this, Barbie 2 is not yet officially greenlit, and deals with the film’s key creative team are still being negotiated. This means if talks fall through, Mattel could get its rights back.

So what’s stopping the deal? Time seems to be one of the biggest obstacles for Warner Bros. It reportedly requires the studio to strike deals for sequels by December or the rights to Barbie will revert to Mattel. In that case, Warner Bros. would be forced to release the rights to the franchise, and Mattel would be able to make future Barbie movies elsewhere.

As per reports, director Greta Gerwig does have an idea for a story, but she’s not writing yet. According to The New York Times, Gerwig and her writing partner Noah Baumbach have already discussed a potential storyline for the sequel. But the pair is said to be refusing to start writing until contracts are signed. And the filmmakers are possibly keeping the concept private and not presenting it to Warner Bros. until negotiations have been finalised. This means development is on hold until the business side is sorted.

According to reports, negotiations have mostly focused on compensation packages for the returning creative team. Of the discussions that have appeared,   was said to have been offered about $20 million, plus a share of box office receipts. Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were also expected to get better financial packages than they did on the first movie.

Warner Bros. executives reportedly tried to negotiate profit participation based on the film’s box office performance. But sources say some of the financial terms proposed were too much for studio leadership to accept, keeping the negotiations from crossing the finish line. Warner Bros. said it made multiple offers and remains interested in closing deals.

If Warner Bros. loses the rights, the consequences could be big. Mattel could reportedly take back the franchise and could choose to make a brand new Barbie movie with different creative partners. And the original creative work and story elements would still be attached to the first production, so a future film produced elsewhere might have to be a full reboot and not follow the existing storyline at all. That would kill Warner Bros.’ plans for a direct follow-up to the record-shattering movie.

Even if the negotiations go well in the next few months, one should not expect to see another Barbie adventure anytime soon. Writing, pre-production, filming and post-production would still take several years, so a theatrical release before 2029 or 2030 is unlikely, the NYT stated.

The original Barbie defied all expectations by turning a beloved toy into one of the decade’s most successful and culturally influential films. However, since the future of its sequel looms, seeing Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken back together will have to wait a lot longer than fans had hoped.