Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie was a wild success when it hit theaters in 2023, making a ton of money at the box office and earning an impressive eight Academy Award nominations, with Billie Eilish winning one. Ever since then, fans have been wondering if a Barbie sequel is ever going to happen, and a Mattel exec recently spoke about that exciting possibility.
While Gerwig was snubbed by the Oscars, her vision helped make the Barbie movie go from a unique concept to a massive hit. When appearing at the Toronto International Film Festival (via Deadline), Mattel boss Robbie Brenner talked a possible sequel, offering:
We all want to see the Barbie sequel. I want to see it too. I’m sure at some point, one day, there will be one.
Well, this is hopeful. Although the studio seemingly doesn't any concrete plans for Barbie 2's development and eventual production, it does sound like the powers that be at Mattel want to make it happen sometime in the future. Hopefully if fans stay invested in this and keep the pressure on we'll be back in Barbie and Ken's pink world before we know it. Fingers crossed.
Casual moviegoers might be surprised that a Barbie sequel isn't already in process, but Mattel has been busy since. The studio recently celebrated the release of the new live-action Masters of the Universe movie, which is currently streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription. Later during his appearance at TIFF, Brenner mentioned another film endeavor that's currently in process, saying:
Right now, we’re focused on, and we’re making, an animated Barbie movie with Chris Meledandri. That is super exciting, and yes, we will continue to do other Barbie things as well
This might not be a live-action follow up with Margot Robbie, but this is another exciting project for cinephiles to look out for. Meledandri is the founder and CEO of Illumination, which is responsible modern animated classics like the Despicable Me franchise and the recent Super Mario Bros. movies. It should be interesting to see what he does with the Barbie IP, and how it'll compare to other big screen depictions like the Toy Story films.
Barbie became a sensation after its release, with Ryan Gosling and the cast even performing "I'm Just Ken" at the Oscars. Fans have plenty of ideas for how a follow-up movie could go down, from a spinoff for Ken to catching up with Margot Robbie's Barbie living in the real world as a bonafide human.
You can re-watch Barbie now with an HBO subscription in all of its glory. As for news about a potential sequel or spinoff film, it looks like we might have to be patient until after Chris Meledandri's animated outing. For now that'll have to be "Kenough."
