Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has been in cinemas for just a few weeks, but fans are already asking a big question – will we be getting a sequel?
As well as going down extremely well with critics, Barbie has exceeded even the most generous box office predictions, storming its way to over $1 billion (£778m) in takings.
The question of whether we’ll be see Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling reprise their roles as Barbie and Ken is yet to be answered, though.
With fresh Barbie 2 rumours swirling, here’s how things stand...
What are the latest Barbie movie sequel rumours?
According to unconfirmed reports, the crew who worked on Barbie, which was mostly filmed at the Leavesden studios near London, have already been contacted to work on a follow-up.
Earlier this week, a source was quoted as telling The Sun that while it’s ”very early days,” bosses at Warner Bros. are keen to have the same people working on a possible follow-up.
These reports haven’t been confirmed by the studio themselves, or Margot’s LuckyChap Entertainment, who produced the movie. HuffPost UK has emailed them both for comment.
It’s worth noting that if a sequel were to happen, the release date would likely be a very long way off.
For a start, writer and director Greta hasn’t thought about what the plot would be – more on that later – and the ongoing writers’ strike means most film and TV writing in the States is on hold (both Greta and her co-writer husband Noah Baumbach are striking members of WGA, the Writers Guild of America).
Many Hollywood actors are also on the picket lines as part of the SAG-AFTRA strike, so all acting activities – from rehearsals to filming – are also on a temporary, but indefinite, pause.
What have Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie said?
Weighing things up before Barbie was even out, Greta told People Magazine that she hoped her movie would “launch a bunch of different Barbie movies.”
The director and writer added: “There’s a tone and a humour and a joy, and obviously the world is so beautiful. I want to go back to Barbie Land.”
But speaking just after her movie’s record-breaking opening weekend, Greta seemed to dial back a bit. She told the New York Times: “At this moment, it’s all I’ve got. I feel like that at the end of every movie, like I’ll never have another idea and everything I’ve ever wanted to do, I did.
“I wouldn’t want to squash anybody else’s dream but for me, at this moment, I’m at totally zero.”
Like most Hollywood stars, Margot has been on strike since mid-July and with all promotional activities banned as part of the walkout, she hasn’t given any interviews since a week before Barbie’s release.
Speaking shortly before it hit cinemas, Margot said of the prospect of a sequel (via Time): “It could go a million different directions from this point but I think you fall into a bit of a trap if you try and set up a first movie whilst also planning for sequels.”
What has Mattel said?
Mattel has seriously grand plans for a whole world of toy movies and it seems almost unfathomable that they wouldn’t want to capitalise on Barbie’s success with sequels.
Company representatives have been quiet on the matter since Barbie’s release but like Greta and Margot, they did address the possibility before the movie stormed into the $1 billion club.
Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz told Variety: “At the outset, we’re not saying, ‘Okay, let’s think already about movie two and three’.
“Let’s get the first one right and make that a success. And if you do that, opportunities open up very quickly, once you establish the first movie as a successful representation of a franchise on the big screen.
“Successful movies lend themselves to more movies. Our ambition is to create film franchises.”
In the meantime, fans have a “surrealistic” Barney film to look forward to and another inspired by the Hot Wheels car toys is already in the works as well.