Barbie made over $1.4B last year and earned eight Oscar nominations, but more than that it was a cultural touchstone. Warner Bros. rightfully wants a sequel, but Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have been reluctant. Not only that, but Gerwig has a pair of Narnia films to do before she can direct anything else. While WB has some thinking to do, Mattel might not be bothering to wait around.
According to Puck, Mattel is in talks with Illumination to develop an animated Barbie movie. Illumination Entertainment are the folks behind Despicable Me, Minions, and The Super Mario Bros. movie which made $1.3B last year. According to the report, Mattel still owns the animation rights and sees plans for a live-action Barbie moving too slowly.
Furthermore, the report states that WBD, Gerwig, and Robbie “aren’t thrilled” about this project but it’s unclear if they can do anything about it.
This just makes sense from a Mattel perspective. Barbie was a gigantic hit, and there’s a lot of money to be made by building out the franchise in movies and TV. It’s possible, and this is speculation on my part, that WB could be pushed to speed up their plans and get someone else to direct other than Gerwig. Would Robbie be down for that, though? What about a Ken spinoff with Gerwig as a producer but someone else as writer/director?
A lot can happen from here. Stay tuned.
