Warner Bros. Discovery has about four months to get the Barbie sequel underway, and with more than six rejected offers to make it happen, it looks like its future is in jeopardy.
Variety reports that more than half a dozen offers have been extended to the Barbie creative team over three years, and every single one has been turned down. Here’s the kicker: if Warner Bros. can’t lock in agreements with director Greta Gerwig, co-writer Noah Baumbach, and starring actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling by December, the sequel rights revert to Mattel — and the entire franchise faces a costly reset.
WB film co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy confirmed the impasse in a joint statement.
"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. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far,” the statement reads.
At the center of the standoff is WBD CEO David Zaslav. He has reportedly declined to approve a proposed deal because he considered the terms too generous. A WBD spokesperson disputed the framing, saying the talent's representatives turned down an offer made in May and have not submitted a counteroffer since.
The money at issue is significant on all sides, specifically what the creative team receives on the back end. Robbie, who is projected to have earned roughly $50 million in salary and back-end from the first film, is seeking bumps in both upfront fees and profit participation for the sequel. Gerwig, who also made tens of millions on the original, is pursuing further increases. Gosling is seeking $20 million to play Ken again.
Warner Bros. offered the talent a share of profits contingent on the film hitting certain box office thresholds. But the offer has sat unanswered — CAA, which represents all four creatives under agency chief Bryan Lourd, has not countered the studio's latest proposal.
Part of the studio's leverage problem traces back to the original deal. When Warner Bros. first hired Gerwig, her contract carried zero obligations for a sequel. Now, with Barbie having grossed an estimated $1.5 billion globally, earned eight Oscar nominations, and taken home the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the creative team is in a position of considerable strength — and they’re not backing down.
Gerwig and Baumbach have said they have an idea for a sequel in place, but they refuse to share any details until they’ve signed contracts.
If rights do revert at the end of the year, Mattel wouldn’t be able to use any story elements from Gerwig's film and would have to do a full reboot, without Gerwig, Robbie, or Gosling attached.
