Negotiations are headed into the 11th hour between Warner Bros. and the talent behind BARBIE on finalizing the terms of a sequel. Warner Bros. has until the end of 2026 to arrive at a deal. If they are not able to do so, the rights to future BARBIE movies will fall back to Mattel which could shop the project around to other studios.
The negotiations between Warner Bros. and Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling have been fraught, reflecting the increasing leverage that talent has in studio negotiations. It also may indicate some hesitancy by Warner Bros. management to greenlight a sequel to the studio’s highest grossing film in history.
According to reporting from the New York Times, negotiations are at a standstill after Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav rejected the latest proposal by Gerwig, Robbie and Gosling. That offer included increased initial pay to the talent plus a share of the profit from the film’s ultimate gross if it exceeds a certain level. Zaslav is said to have complained that the box office figure at which talent would begin to share profits was too low, not allowing the studio sufficient room to recoup its investment in the film. The talent has not countered since their latest offer was rejected. In a statement released to the New York Times, Warner Bros. Studio Co-Chairs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy confirmed, “Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far.”
The holdout from BARBIE’s talent is an indication of the increasing leverage talent has in today’s Hollywood. Auteur directors like Ryan Coogler and Christopher Nolan have been able to negotiate favorable studios deal due to the strong performance of their titles. Gerwig has flexed her muscles by getting Netflix to commit to a full theatrical release of her upcoming movie NARNIA: THE MAGICIAN’s NEPHEW. Meanwhile, the unresolved state of Warner Bros. merger with Paramount leaves both companies limited on capital. This may be the reason why Zaslav is hesitant to grant generous terms for a sequel. While this could make sense in pure financial terms for this project, the failure to consummate a deal would be embarrassing for the studio, which has already had a disappointing year at the box office with underperformances from their films THE BRIDE and SUPERGIRL.
