There’s nothing Hollywood loves more these days than a franchise with positive name recognition. If a movie or television show has ever, at any singular point, made money and/ or cultivated an invested fanbase, there is someone out there currently trying to make a sequel or prequel or reboot or remake. At this point, we’re all swimming in nostalgic follow-ups, most of which we didn’t ask for, which is why it’s so bizarre that Barbie, a smash hit movie we all want a sequel to, has made no forward progress. Fortunately, there might finally be some reason for optimism.
First, let’s talk about the bad news. Earlier this year, a widely cited New York Times report ripped the band-aid off on what’s allegedly going on behind the scenes with Barbie, and many fans were left disappointed. Director Greta Gerwig reportedly has an idea for a sequel she wants to do, but Warner Bros has been unable to come to terms with Gerwig, co-writer Noah Baumbach and stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling on a new deal. If an agreement isn’t reached this year, the rights reportedly revert back to Mattel, who could work with another studio but would have to completely reboot the franchise without using this most recent iteration of characters.
Given the timeframe we’re dealing with and the fact that six offers have allegedly been rejected, you would think there’s no way this is going to happen, but some behind the scenes shake-ups at the ownership and executive level could be good news. The most obvious change is, of course, Paramount/ Skydance buying Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav may have been unwilling to give the Barbie creative team the money they’re asking for, but that doesn’t mean Paramount’s leadership isn’t. They’re clearly going to be looking to make a splash, and one of the loudest ways they could do that would be by officially putting a Barbie sequel into development.
Latest Videos FromCinemablend
There are also several key players in leadership roles who you would think would have a very personal interest in making it happen. Last week, Mattel announced it was bringing in a new executive to run all things Barbie, as well as its entire doll division. The company picked Catherine Wood, who until recently, ran the global franchise strategy for Warner Bros. She was responsible for the overall vision of Harry Potter, Game Of Thrones and more, and obviously has extremely close connections back at her old company.
In an unrelated but extremely interesting parallel decision, Skydance announced last week that Ynon Kreiz was officially taking over as co-CEO. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he used to be the former CEO of Mattel. So, to sum up, the woman running Barbie used to be a high level executive at Warner Bros, and the guy now running Warner Bros’ parent company used to be the CEO of Mattel.
2023’s smash hit adaptation of Barbie grossed $1.4B with a b dollars at the global box office. It also received eight Oscar nominations and got an overwhelmingly positive response from fans and critics. You could make a strong case that it was the most culturally relevant movie of the entire year, which is extremely impressive given the first Barbie doll went to market in 1959.
At the time, it was widely assumed we’d get an entire franchise of movies in short order, but we’re now just a few months away from the rights running out and Mattel executives are using ominous phrases like “one day.” Fingers crossed these behind the scenes changes are what everyone needs to get a deal done and give us some optimism.