This "Barbie" Made $1 Billion But Will She Be Back For A Sequel?

Only 50 films in the history of Hollywood (adjusted for inflation) have hit the billion-dollar mark and “Barbie” is one of them.

Forget a superhero, it seems sometimes, a doll is enough even as fans wonder, will this “Barbie” hit the screens in a sequel?

Margot Robbie not only stars in the movie as stereotypical Barbie but is also the producer of the blockbuster hit. She admitted in an interview last month that she had to pull out the big guns when she went in to convince Warner Bros and Mattel to make “Barbie”.

Said Robbie, “I think my pitch in the green-light meeting was the studios have prospered so much when they’re brave enough to pair a big idea with a visionary director. And then I gave a series of examples like, “dinosaurs and [Steven] Spielberg,” that and that, that and that – pretty much-naming anything that’s been incredible and made a ton of money for the studios over the years.”

Finally, Robbie made a prediction about the movie, which she thought was an oversell back then, admitting, “And I was like, “And now you’ve got Barbie and Greta Gerwig.” And I think I told them that it’d make a billion dollars, which maybe I was overselling, but we had a movie to make, okay?!”

Guess it was not an oversell but the truth, given that barely three weeks into its run, writer-director Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster has raked in an astounding $1.03 billion at the global box office, as reported by CNN.

Obviously, these Barbies and Kens are super-duper-happy!

Despite the unmitigated success of the movie that makes Greta Gerwig the first solo female director to have a billion-dollar movie, the sequel remains in limbo. As per Consequence, Greta Gerwig or the lead actors, Robbie and Ryan Gosling did not sign any contracts that required a sequel.

In fact, Gerwig was allegedly approached about a sequel even before the release of the movie, but she put off negotiations, asking for the movie to be released first. Now that the movie is out and a huge success, the fact that none of the leads have a contractual obligation to make a sequel lets them off the hook. Plus, the SAG-AFTRA strike is impacting writers and actors alike, so negotiating a new contract is likely to hit hurdles. If the “Barbie” sequel is not made, it will stick out as a rarity in Hollywood, where film franchises are often milked to the fullest extent to churn out wild profits.

Gerwig also told Us Magazine that she’s out of ideas when it comes to a sequel, saying, "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."

Till then, it's better to first catch it in the theatres!

Despite receiving some intense backlash from film critics and many men around the world of “Barbie” portraying Ken as a prop with some major self-esteem issues, the movie has rocked world theatres performing extremely well in some of the world’s largest movie markets, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Australia. It's even done well in China and part of the phenomenon behind its success is that little girls and their mothers still relate to Barbie, as a hark back from their childhood.

From dressing up in all pink to truly understanding the existentialist questions behind the movie, it seems the audience is a little more woke for having watched “Barbie.”

Sequel or not, the movie has opened up a whole new world of toys first and then a movie so who knows what else Mattel might bring to life on the big screen next...

Meanwhile, we have to admit, Ryan Gosling has proved he’s “Kenough” more than just once, and not just in the movie as he sent over a flash mob to wish Greta Gerwig on her birthday! Need we say more?