Barbie 2 negotiations stall as Warner Bros. and stars fail to agree on pay before December rights deadline
Warner Bros. has until December to reach deals with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig before film rights revert to Mattel, but CEO David Zaslav has balked at the offers.
The original phenomenon
Released in July 2023, Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" earned more than $1.4 billion at the global box office, becoming Warner Bros.' highest-grossing film ever and the top film of that year. It received eight Academy Award nominations and won Best Original Song for Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?", along with two Golden Globe wins. The film, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, became a cultural touchstone and a massive win for Mattel, which owns the doll brand.
Negotiations hit a wall
Warner Bros. has spent months trying to lock deals with Gerwig, Robbie and Gosling for a sequel. According to the New York Times, the studio offered Gosling around $20 million upfront plus a share of box office profits, with similar profit participation for the others. But CEO David Zaslav reportedly deemed the offers "too generous," and the talent rejected the most recent proposal in May without making a counteroffer. The original contracts for the 2023 film did not include sequel options, leaving all parties to negotiate from scratch. Warner Bros. co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca confirmed the impasse in a 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 ticking clock
The studio faces a hard deadline: the film rights granted by Mattel expire in December 2026. If no deal is reached by then, the rights revert to the toymaker, which could then develop a new Barbie movie with another studio, but without the same story elements or cast. Gerwig and her co-writer Noah Baumbach have an idea for the sequel but are withholding it until contracts are signed. Gerwig is currently finishing a Narnia film for Netflix, and Gosling is attached to star in Marvel's Ghost Rider in 2028, meaning any sequel would still be years away even if a deal is struck. Paramount's ongoing attempt to acquire Warner Bros. adds further uncertainty to the studio's planning.
- Barbie released, grosses over $1.4 billion worldwide
- Eight Oscar nominations, wins Best Original Song
- Warner Bros. makes offer; Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig reject it
- Film rights revert to Mattel if no deal is reached
What the stars have said
Margot Robbie, who also produced the original through her company LuckyChap, told Variety in 2024 that the film was never conceived as a franchise starter.
It's funny, that knee-jerk reaction in this day and age for everyone to immediately ask about a sequel. I don't think it was like that 20 years ago. This wasn't designed to be a trilogy.
She added that Gerwig "finishes every movie on empty," and that any follow-up would require a compelling new idea. Now, three years later, Gerwig and Baumbach believe they have that idea, but the financial terms remain unresolved.
What happens next
If Warner Bros. cannot close the deals by December, Mattel will be free to shop the property elsewhere, though it would have to start from scratch with a new creative team. The studio's recent box office struggles with tentpoles like "The Bride!" and "Supergirl" add pressure to secure a proven franchise. For now, the return to Barbieland remains uncertain.
