Barbie 2 Happening…Maybe? David Zaslav Refuses Pay!
Barbie became the highest-grossing film of 2023 and was this cultural event that made $1.4 billion at the box office and earned 8 Oscar nominations. Because of the film’s success, many people guessed the film would be getting a sequel. This past week, it sounds like a sequel to the film is in development, but it sounds like it is a bit complicated as to why the film might not happen!
What’s Happening?
If you do not know what has happened ever since Barbie became this box office juggernaut that people loved and went back to multiple times. A sequel was bound to happen or at least conversation would be had between Greta Gerwig and Warner Brothers and based on the reports, it sounds like Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling had interests in returning to a sequel. But the problem with it is that David Zaslav is refusing to pay Robbie and Gosling the numbers they are asking. Gosling, who is asking for $20 million plus backend pay for a percentage of the film’s box office. I believe there’s similar numbers being said for Robbie’s pay for a sequel. Because of these high numbers, David Zaslav is refusing to pay Robbie and Gosling what they want and is stalling development on the film.
It gets tricky because a sequel to Barbie needs to start being in development by December and if it’s not, then that means that movie rights for Barbie go back to Mattel and Mattel can choose a different film studio to make another Barbie movie but it’ll have to be a different creative team, cast, and story. So, if there’s not active development on a film by December, then we will not be getting a sequel to the 2023 film.
My Thoughts
When I initially saw this report, I thought it was another example of David Zaslav being a sleazy guy and not doing deals that make sense or wasted opportunities. But with having to think about and hearing other people’s opinion on this subject, there is some truth to Zaslav’s thinking. Because of the success of Barbie, Robbie and Gosling want higher pay checks which makes sense. Actors do this all the time, so I do not mind that they want higher pay checks for a sequel. If you are giving Robbie and Gosling a total of $40 million plus 10% each for the film’s box office, that is a lot of money going into the budget just for our two leads plus 20% of the film’s box office. That is a lot of money going into the budget and less money that they will be making back with these deals.
Zaslav’s thinking is they do not want to budget this movie and assume it is going to be another $1.4 billion hit. No studio or franchise should budget their films, assuming it is going to make $1 billion at the box office. Just because you had a hit film does not mean that a sequel is going to be a hit. The most recent obvious example would be the Joker franchise. The first film made $1 billion and they budgeted the sequel with a $200 million budget assuming the film would be another $1 billion. But they took too long to get a sequel made and they made a sequel that is a courtroom drama musical. That is not an obvious follow-up to the Joker that is Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. That is an example from WB in recent memory of them over budgeting a sequel that completely failed. Zaslav could be thinking they do not want to have another Joker: Folie A Deux and lose a lot of money. So, if the studio wants to be more conservative with the budget and not let it get crazy, that is reasonable. Barbie was a $1 billion hit, but part of that was related to Barbenheimer and the release of Oppenheimer, and because of that there is a chance that a sequel does not make $1 billion. In a sense, you pay what Robbie Gosling is worth, especially since they are both big movie stars. But Zaslav’s potential thinking is reasonable and since he is a businessperson, I get that thinking.
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