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Is the Barbie Sequel Stalled? Unboxing the Salary Negotiation Rumors

Watch: Is Matthew McConaughey Starring in ‘Barbie’ Sequel? Margot Robbie Says…

Barbie canbe anything. But can she get paid anything?

As Warner Bros. eyes a sequel to the mega successful 2023 Barbie movie—which earned $1.5 billion in worldwide box office sales—the studio is reportedly running into hurdles with salary negotiations, according to The New York Times.

Although the studio’s rights to make a sequel are set to expire in December, Warner Bros. has not been able to reach a deal with stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as well as writer-director Greta Gerwig.

Negotiations have been ongoing for months, with studio heads allegedly proposing a cut of box office profits for principal talent, upfront raises and a $20 million salary for Gosling, which is his current asking price, according to the NYT.

However, the outlet, citingsources involved in the negotiations, reported that Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav would not sign off on the offers. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the studio told the outlet that the talent were the ones who had rejected the last offer, with talks stalling since May.

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Matthew McConaughey Starring in Barbie Sequel? Margot Robbie Says…

E! News has reached out to representatives for Warner Bros. but have not yet heard back.

“We have a rights deal with Mattel in place and have made a series of big offers to try and finalize deals to make the next Barbie film,” Warner Bros. co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca said in a statement to the NYT. “Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement thus far.”

Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.

While fans have been asking for a sequel since Barbie was released, its stars have been clear about what they need for it to happen. In fact, Robbie has said that she will only work on a second film under one condition.

“It would be up to Greta,” she previously told E! News in November 2023. “I wouldn’t do it without Greta.”

And at the time, Gerwig had been out of ideas for a sequel, noting that the initial film was “all I’ve got.”

“I wouldn’t want to squash anybody else’s dream but for me,” Gerwig told the NYT in July 2023, “at this moment, I’m at totally zero.”

While the fate of a Barbie sequel is up in the air, read on to learn some secrets from the set…

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

How Ryan Gosling Was Convinced to JoinMargot Robbie, who stars as Barbie and also produced the film, admitted that she always wanted Ryan Gosling to be her Ken. She said he was written into the script—as the character “Ken Ryan Gosling”—and joked, “We pretty much wouldn’t take no for an answer.”Writer-director Greta Gerwig had her back too. “We just kept bothering you,” she said to to Ryan in an SXM interview. “Margot was like, ‘Is it weird if I go to his house?’ I was like, ‘Don’t go to his house. We’re just gonna stay put.’ Send a follow-up text.”As Margot teased, “I would see a sea of blue on my phone.”

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Ryan Gosling Received Daily PresentsMargot gave Ryan daily gifts inspired by his character Beach Ken. “She left a pink present with a pink bow, from Barbie to Ken, every day while we were filming,” Ryan told Vogue. “They were all beach-related. Like puka shells, or a sign that says ‘Pray for surf.'”He said that he’s “never quite figured out” what Ken’s job as “Beach” means, “But I felt like she was trying to help Ken understand, through these gifts that she was giving.”

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Why Amy Schumer Left the Project”I think we said it was scheduling conflict, that’s what we said,” Amy Schumer said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in June 2023. “But yeah, it really was just, like, creative differences. But you know what? There’s, like, a new team behind it, and it looks like it’s very feminist and cool. So, I will be seeing that movie.”

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Actresses That Almost Played BarbiesThese Barbies were almost movie stars—or, rather, these movie stars were almost Barbies. After Amy left the movie, Anne Hathaway was signed up to take the lead, but it was later reported that she was no longer involved. When Margot got on board, she tried to recruit Gal Gadot to join as another Barbie, but the Wonder Woman star wasn’t available. Greta’s former Lady Bird and Little Women muse Saoirse Ronan was also set to appear in the film but had to cancel. “I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London and they were [filming] there,” the actress admitted to People. “There was a whole character I was going to play—another Barbie. I was gutted I couldn’t do it.”

Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros

A Fart Opera Scene Was Cut From the Final Movie”We’ve always tried to get in a proper fart joke and we’ve never done it,” Greta told IndieWire. “We had like a fart opera in the middle [of Barbie]. I thought it was really funny… And that was not the consensus.”But her editor Nick Houy has hope she’ll let one rip in a future film: “We need to work it into a more significant narrative moment next time.”

Warner Bros; Mgm/Kobal/Shutterstock

There’s No Place Like Home in BarbielandWhile the script comedically name-drops other shows and movies—like the The Godfather, Pride and Prejudice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League—there are multiple Easter eggs to The Wizard of Oz hidden in the set. A movie theater marquee shows that the 1939 film is playing in the doll world, but the inspiration didn’t stop there.”[The Wizard of Oz] does something that I wanted to emulate,” Greta said in an interview, “which it’s using these incredible sound stages and these painted skies and this sense of ‘authentic artificial,’ which I think is very beautiful and emotional.”The 39-year-old explained, “I think of the painted backdrop of the Emerald City as they go towards it, and we put in our movie, we have the pink brick road, instead of the yellow brick road. We also have beautiful painted backdrops of horizons. We executed it like they would have done in the ‘30s and ‘40s.”

Warner Bros

Head of Mattel or Buddy the Elf?Spreading Christmas cheer in July, Will Ferrell made some cheeky nods to his beloved Elf character Buddy while playing the Mattel CEO in the Barbie movie.Among the discreet references to the 2003 comedy? He demands to be the one to press a button in the Mattel office elevator (calling back to the Elf scene where he presses every button in his dad’s office building elevator, because the lights look “like a Christmas tree”).In Barbie, his suited character also starts a tickle fight—just like Buddy the Elf does with his dad Walter (James Caan) while being tucked into bed one night.

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This Classic Film ReferenceGoing where no Barbie has gone before… The opening scene of Barbie pays homage to the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which shows a group of hominins discovering a futuristic monolith. In Barbie, a group of girls are shocked by a giant version of the original 1959 Barbie doll, wearing a black and white striped swimsuit.

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A Secret Bratz Cameo?Fans speculate that Gloria’s daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and her friends in the cafeteria were inspired by Barbie’s rivals, the original Bratz dolls: Sasha, Chloe, Yasmin and Jade.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Kens That Almost WereCasting director Allison Jones revealed Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang, Schitt’s Creek actor Dan Levy and Dear Evan Hansen actor Ben Platt almost played Kens in the movie but weren’t able to make it work. She added, “They were, I’m not kidding, really bummed they couldn’t do it.”

Todd Owyoung/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank; Warner Bros. Pictures

Allan Was Almost Played By…According to the casting director, before Michael Cera came on board as Ken’s buddy Allan, the part almost went to a certain Frozen actor.”Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m typing this,'” Allison told Vanity Fair, “‘but I can’t do Allan.'”

Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/WireImage

Onscreen and Offscreen CoupleAmerica Ferrera‘s IRL husband Ryan Piers Williams plays none other than her character Gloria’s husband. Ryan—whose past work includes producing, writing and acting in X/Y with America in 2014—is credited as “El Esposo de Gloria.”

Warner Bros.

The Truth About How John Cena Was Cast”It was a happy accident,” John Cena told Today of his casting as a Mermaid Ken. He said he “kind of” pitched himself to join the film “in an accidental run-in with Margot Robbie.”As he recalled, he told the actress, “‘I would do, pretty much, whatever you guys need ’cause I really enjoy the movie,’ and they asked me if I wanted to be a merman.”

Warner Bros. Pictures

Breaking Down the Naughty French PosterThe French version of Barbie’s poster went viral after social media users pointed out the double entendre of the translation. The tagline, “She can do everything. He’s just Ken,” was translated to, “Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c’est juste Ken.”However, fans went wild after pointing out that “ken” has a slang meaning in French as “f–k” and would translate to, “He can only f–k.” Bonjour, Ken!

Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Warner Bros.

Inside the Cast Bonding NightsThe Barbie actresses had a cast sleepover at London hotel Claridge’s to get close. “We all shared beds and wore our pajamas, and ordered room service,” Margot revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show, “and played games, and found out that America is exceptionally competitive.”America had her own tea to spill about the evening. “Nobody told me that it was a sexy Barbie sleepover,” she quipped. “So everybody was in like really pretty silky nightgowns, and I was in like the most grandma floral twin set you can imagine.”As for the Kens? “Greta was very deliberate in what she wanted the Kens to do to bond,” Simu Liu exclusively told E! News, “which was to gym together.”

Warner Bros.

The Story Behind Nicola Coughlan’s Brief AppearanceThough Nicola Coughlan only appeared for a few moments in the film, it was very important to her that she experience life in plastic.”I auditioned for Barbie back in January ’22 when I was on holiday with friends,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’d packed one random hot pink dress I hadn’t worn at all and when I had to make my audition tape I thought—this is fate, I have a dress in Barbie Pink!”Admitting she’s “obsessed” with Greta, the Bridgerton star said that “the prospect of working with her was something I couldn’t even have imagined.” “When I found out she wanted to have me be part of @barbiethemovie, and then that I probably wouldn’t be able to make it work because of my schedule I was firstly elated and quickly heartbroken,” Nicola continued. “So when I was asked if I wanted to pop into Barbieland even briefly my answer was an immediate, and very emphatic yes.”

Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros

The Ending ExplainedThe film concludes with Margot adopting a new life as a human named Barbara Handler, a reference to Barbie inventor Ruth Handler‘s real-life daughter. Barbie enters an office building and delivers her final line to a receptionist: “I’m here to see my gynecologist.”Why did Greta end on that note? “With this film, it was important for me that everything operated on at least two levels,” she told USA Today. “I knew I wanted to end on a mic drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional. When I was a teenage girl, I remember growing up and being embarrassed about my body, and just feeling ashamed in a way that I couldn’t even describe. It felt like everything had to be hidden.” The director hoped the way Margot delivered the line with a “big old smile on her face” and with “such happiness and joy” would help de-stigmatize conversations about women’s health and “give girls that feeling of, ‘Barbie does it, too’—that’s both funny and emotional.”

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