Key Takeaways
- The 2023 Barbie movie grossed $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office, breaking records.
- New details have emerged about star Margot Robbie’s payday for playing Barbie in the film.
- Talks for a sequel have reportedly stalled because the core Barbie team has not been able to agree with Warner Bros. on pay.
The 2023 Barbie movie grossed $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. history. Now new details have emerged about Margot Robbie’s payday as the movie’s titular character.
According to Variety, Robbie reportedly made a staggering $50 million from starring in and producing Barbie. The publication added that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has not been able to bring on the core Barbie team, including Robbie, Ryan Gosling, director Greta Gerwig and her co-writer husband, Noah Baumbach, for a sequel.
Talks have reportedly stalled because Zaslav and the team have not been able to agree on pay. The creative team has rejected more than six offers for sequels in the three years since Barbie debuted.
Variety noted that the latest offer Warner Bros. made was the “highest ever” from the studio. One source called the offer “life-changing money.”
A separate source downplayed the offer, saying that the individual compensation for each member of the team is not as “historic” as the combined amount.
Gosling is pushing for $20 million to play Ken again in the sequel. Sources told Variety that Gerwig made “tens of millions of dollars” from the 2023 movie.
Variety confirmed that Gerwig and Baumbach have a concept in mind for a sequel, but they are not revealing any details and will not start writing it until signing a contract with Warner Bros.
What the team has said about a sequel
After Barbie became a billion-dollar success, the core team talked publicly about possibly making a sequel. At Time’s Women of the Year event in March 2024, Gerwig spoke about her guiding principles.
“My North Star is ‘What do I deeply love? What do I really care about?’ Like, ‘What’s the story underneath this story?’” Gerwig said at the event. “And I think with Barbie, the story underneath this story was I loved Barbie. I remember going to Toys R Us and looking at Barbies, and I loved their hair. And I loved everything about them, and my mom was not sure about it. And I find that’s the story, that’s the generational story…I’m always trying to find those undertows.”
Gerwig wasn’t able to give a definitive answer about a sequel, but noted that she “loved” making the movie.
“I loved the world that we built so much and all of the actors and the idea of getting to be with that group of people again is very exciting,” she said at the event.
Meanwhile, Robbie told the Associated Press in November 2023 that it was “really important” that Barbie did well at the box office. She said that the “biggest takeaway” for her was that original films can still “hit huge.”
“It doesn’t have to be a sequel or a prequel or a remake,” she said. “It can be totally original. It can still be big.”
Robbie added that the team “put everything” into the movie.
“I can’t imagine what would be next,” she said.
Key Takeaways
- The 2023 Barbie movie grossed $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office, breaking records.
- New details have emerged about star Margot Robbie’s payday for playing Barbie in the film.
- Talks for a sequel have reportedly stalled because the core Barbie team has not been able to agree with Warner Bros. on pay.
The 2023 Barbie movie grossed $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. history. Now new details have emerged about Margot Robbie’s payday as the movie’s titular character.
According to Variety, Robbie reportedly made a staggering $50 million from starring in and producing Barbie. The publication added that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has not been able to bring on the core Barbie team, including Robbie, Ryan Gosling, director Greta Gerwig and her co-writer husband, Noah Baumbach, for a sequel.
Talks have reportedly stalled because Zaslav and the team have not been able to agree on pay. The creative team has rejected more than six offers for sequels in the three years since Barbie debuted.