Barbie Sequel Remains Uncertain Amid Stalled Talent Negotiations

Come on Barbie, let’s go party…again?! Three years after the Greta Gerwig-directed film sashayed into theaters, Warner Bros. Discovery is still attempting a sequel, but there’s a big deadline looming. As The New York Times reports, the rights to “Barbie” will revert to Mattel in December unless Warner Bros. can secure a deal with the principal talent, including Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. If they do, in fact, get pen to paper, the deal would give Warner Bros. a percentage of gross profits (as was the case with the first film). While negotiations between studio heads and talent have been ongoing for several months, there’s been little movement. David Zaslav, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery, has reportedly called certain offers too generous. Those offers include a $20 million payday for Gosling and a cut of profits for talent if the film hits certain financial targets at the box office. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. told the Times that the talent declined its latest offer in May, and there hasn’t been a counter offer made since. Complicating the issue even further is the Warner Bros.-Paramount Skydance merger, which has been paused as part of an antitrust la...