'Barbie' Sequel Stuck: Warner Can't Sort Out the Profit Split by Year's End, Rights Could Revert to Mattel
Negotiations between Warner Bros. and Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and Greta Gerwig over a "Barbie" sequel have hit a wall, and if no deal is reached by the end of the year, the rights revert back to Mattel. The core issue isn't whether to make the movie—it's how to split the money.
What's holding up the "Barbie" sequel right now isn't the script—it's a contract deadline. According to The New York Times, Warner Bros. must lock in a sequel deal with the three key figures behind the 2023 film—Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and director/writer Greta Gerwig—by this December, or the rights will revert to Mattel. A movie that swept box offices worldwide is now stuck over profit-sharing terms nobody can agree on.
Per the report, Warner has been negotiating for months, offering a deal where the core creative team would get a cut of the profits if the movie hits certain box office milestones. Given that the 2023 film was a global box-office phenomenon, that's hardly an outrageous ask. But according to the report, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav vetoed the proposal, calling the terms "too generous."
A Warner spokesperson pushed back on that version of events, telling The New York Times that it was actually the talent's representatives who rejected Warner's offer back in May—and that no counteroffer has been made since. Studio co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca also released a statement: "We have a rights deal in place with Mattel and have made a series of substantial offers in an effort to close a deal for the next 'Barbie' movie. Unfortunately, to date, we have not been able to reach an agreement with the filmmakers." Both sides are telling different stories, but the clock keeps ticking.
What's interesting is that there's never even been consensus on whether this sequel should exist in the first place. Back in 2023, Robbie told TIME she'd been part of sequel discussions and that "there are a million different directions you could go from here," while also stressing she didn't want to plan a sequel while still making the first film. Her stance later shifted: "I feel like we poured everything into this one movie. It wasn't designed to be a trilogy. Greta poured everything she had into this film, and I find it hard to imagine what would come next." In December 2024, The Hollywood Reporter cited sources claiming Gerwig and her partner and co-writer Noah Baumbach were brainstorming sequel ideas, though both the director and Warner denied it at the time. This sequel has essentially lived under the shadow of "might not happen" since day one.
Looking back at the acclaim the original film received might explain why Warner is so reluctant to let go. NME gave it four stars at the time, with critic Alex Flood writing that the script carried unexpected nuance, particularly in its quieter emotional beats that hit harder than expected; Gerwig smartly used self-aware humor—like Helen Mirren thanking Barbie for "ending misogyny"—to strike a perfect balance between commercial appeal and something more genuine. NME also named "Barbie" the seventh best film of 2023, with Paul Bradshaw noting that the film breezed past the billion-dollar mark, making Gerwig a record-breaking female director, and that nobody could escape humming "I'm Just Ken" that year.
Whether further negotiations are underway, or whether both sides will reach an agreement before December, neither the report nor the statements offer a timeline.
