Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling hit a pause: Barbie 2 is on the verge of being canceled!

It's been three years since Barbie's massive box office success, yet a sequel hasn't even reached the script stage. Moreover, Warner Bros.'s issues now extend beyond just coordinating the schedules of the actors and creative team.

According to the New York Times, the studio's deadline to finalize agreements with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and Greta Gerwig for the sequel ends in December. If no deal is reached by then, the rights for a new Barbie movie could revert back to Mattel.

There was no obligation for a sequel in the first film

The roots of today's negotiations stem from the contracts for the 2023 Barbie film. Gerwig, Robbie, and Gosling did not agree to clauses that would automatically bind them to a sequel when they signed on for the first film.

Warner Bros. took that risk at the time to keep Gerwig on the project. The result was one of the highest-grossing films in studio history, but for the second film, the team needs to start negotiations from scratch.

Now, the financial stakes of that negotiation are much higher.

Ryan Gosling's asking price is $20 million

Sources close to the negotiations indicate that Warner Bros. has proposed profit-sharing agreements that would kick in if the film reaches certain box office milestones, in addition to base salary increases.

Reports suggest that Ryan Gosling is asking for $20 million to reprise his role as Ken. The figures being discussed for Robbie and Gerwig have not been disclosed.

Sources from the New York Times report that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav believes the prepared offers, especially the conditions under which profit sharing would begin, are overly generous.

However, Warner disputes this narrative. According to a company spokesperson, the final offer was made to representatives in May, which was rejected, and no new counteroffer has been made since then. The spokesperson also denies the claim that Zaslav blocked the terms agreed upon by studio executives.

Warner: “We made several significant offers”

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy confirmed that negotiations are ongoing.

The duo stated that there are rights agreements with Mattel regarding the sequel and that they have made multiple significant offers to the team to bring the new Barbie film to fruition. However, they also acknowledged that no agreement has been reached between the parties so far.

This statement is important because Barbie 2 is not yet a film that has been greenlit. There is no announced shooting date, release schedule, or completed script in place.

Gerwig has a story but isn't writing the script

It appears that the negotiations are not solely focused on salaries. Reports indicate that Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, the co-writer of the first film, have developed a story they want to tell for the second film.

However, the duo is not providing the details of the idea to Warner Bros. nor starting to write the script until agreements are finalized. As a result, the studio must first bind the creative team with contracts without knowing what kind of sequel it is investing in.

After the success of the first Barbie, it is clear that the bargaining power has largely shifted to Gerwig, Robbie, and Gosling this time.

If December passes, Mattel could start over

The real pressure for Warner arises here. If the deadline passes and no agreement is reached, Mattel could gain the right to reshape Barbie's cinematic future.

This situation does not mean that the prepared sequel script for the 2023 film will be taken to another studio. According to the reported deal structure, if Mattel separates from Warner, it will have to develop a new film from scratch; it cannot automatically take the existing film's story elements or creative team to another studio.

Therefore, the question for the coming months is not just “Will Barbie 2 be made?”

The real question is whether the sequel to Barbie, which became a global phenomenon in 2023, will be made again by the Warner Bros. team of Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling, or if Mattel will return to the negotiating table for the brand's cinematic future after December.