- Barbie has grossed $1.03 billion at the global box office, according to CNN's reporting.
- Despite that, there aren't yet plans for a sequel — no one working on it has a franchise contract.
Even though Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" has made over a billion dollars at the global box office, fans can't yet celebrate the possibility of a sequel.
According to reporting from CNN, in its first three weeks of running in theaters, "Barbie" has made $1.03 billion globally based on estimates from Warner Brothers Studios — making the movie the first with a solo female director to reach the billion-dollar mark.
Despite this success, though, a sequel isn't yet planned, and Gerwig and the film's actors don't have a contract requiring one, according to Consequence's reporting.
The Hollywood Reporter says Gerwig was approached about directing a sequel months before the movie was released, but her representation put off negotiations until the movie came out, and neither of the film's stars, Margot Robbie or Ryan Gosling, has a contract for a franchise series either.
Previously, Gerwig told Us magazine she doesn't have any ideas for a sequel, despite the global success of her movie.
"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," she told Us about the possibility of another "Barbie" movie. "I wouldn't want to squash anybody else's dream but for me, at this moment, I'm at totally zero."
Now, as Consequence reports, in the middle of the SAG-AFTRA strike impacting writers and actors alike, negotiating a contract with any of the major players could prove even more difficult.
Lacking a sequel, "Barbie" would stand alone as a rarity in a film industry that regards franchises as wildly profitable.
Representatives for Gerwig, Robbie, Gosling, and Warner Brothers did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.