Warner Bros. is in negotiations with director Greta Gerwig, producer-star Margot Robbie and co-star Ryan Gosling for a sequel to Barbie, racing to close deals before the rights revert to toy-maker Mattel in December. The New York Times first reported the talks on July 31, 2026; Variety confirmed and detailed the terms on August 1. If Warner Bros. misses the deadline, Mattel would redevelop the property with a new filmmaker, cast and concept.

The original Barbie opened in July 2023 and grossed more than $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office — The Playlist cites a $1.5 billion figure — and earned eight Academy Award nominations. Gerwig directed and co-wrote the screenplay with her husband Noah Baumbach. Robbie starred and produced through her company LuckyChap. Gosling played Ken and landed a best supporting actor Oscar nomination.

The hold-up is money. Warner Bros. co-chairs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca confirmed that the studio made a series of big offers but could not reach agreement. Gosling is asking for $20 million to return, according to Variety. There have also been talks of giving principal talent a cut of box office revenues — a share of ticket money paid if the sequel crosses a certain benchmark — on top of their upfront fees. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is hesitant to approve a package that includes both a pay raise and a box-office revenue share, considering it too generous.

Gerwig and Baumbach have an idea for the new film but will not share the concept with the studio until their deals are done. All four principals — Gerwig, Baumbach, Robbie and Gosling — are represented by CAA, the talent agency handling the negotiations.

Renegotiating contracts for a sequel that was not part of the original paperwork is standard industry practice. When the first Barbie was greenlit, nobody had committed to a follow-up; the deals now being struck are effectively from scratch.

The December deadline exists because Warner Bros.' option on the Barbie film rights expires then, returning control to Mattel. That gives the studio roughly four months to settle with Gerwig, Robbie and Gosling — or lose the team behind the highest-grossing film in the studio's history.

The timing lands amid a wave of record-breaking box office: Spider-Man: Brand New Day was shattering records around the time the Barbie sequel report emerged. The comparison is apt. In 2019, Sony and Marvel renegotiated their co-financing agreement for Tom Holland's Spider-Man films after public outcry when the deal briefly collapsed. The result was 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, the franchise's highest earner at $1.9 billion. A blockbuster property, held together by deal-making rather than certainty, can still come good.

For now, Barbie 2 remains in talks. No deals have closed. No start date is set. And Gerwig's concept for the film stays in a drawer until they do.