It looks like audiences are heading back to Barbie Land, with a sequel to Barbie in early development at Warner Bros. After the massive success Greta Gerwig‘s film saw at the box office, it was only a matter of time before the studio decided they would like to move forward with the narrative established by Margot Robbie‘s protagonist. Barbies can be whatever they want to be, and a sequel is a good way of exploring how the ideas and themes that made the first film special can be explored in a different story than the one that saw Stereotypical Barbie creating her own path. During a recent interview with Variety, Ynon Kreiz, the CEO of Mattel, talked about the studio’s approach for upcoming films:
“Barbie, as a brand, has many different iterations. The product lines of Barbie is a very broad brand. In addition to the main Barbie figure, she has family, she has a lot of elements around in her universe. It’s a very rich universe… It’s a very broad and very elastic brand, in terms of opportunities.”
The Chief Executive Officer also explained that there is no rush to get the second Barbie movie on the big screen, opting for taking their time to come up with the best story possible: “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.”
It remains to be seen if Robbie and Ryan Gosling will reprise their roles as Barbie and Ken, respectively, after talking about their differences during the first installment. No official confirmation for the actors’ return has been disclosed by the studio. Barbie thought the only way life could work in her home was if all of the Barbies ruled every aspect of existence in Barbie Land. After visiting the real world for the first time, Ken got an idea of how everything could look like if Barbie Land was controlled by men. However, they all understood that they need to work together if they wanted their home to thrive.
Infinite Potential in Barbie Land
The first movie introduced multiple variations of the doll that could lead the narrative of the upcoming sequel. Emma Mackey played a version of Barbie who spent her time researching the field of physics, while Issa Rae portrayed the President of Barbie Land. It remains to be seen where the second movie will be headed, but if the first installment was anything to go by, Barbies know how to throw parties while fixing their society’s problems, one at a time. Musical numbers, extravagant outfits, and existential dread are sold separately.
via Collider