Although Greta Gerwig may not be looking to make a Barbie 2, Mattel is just getting started.
Mattel wanted to get the first film right
Speaking to Variety in a recent profile on what the future holds for Mattel’s movie plans, CEO Ynon Kreiz was asked about potential sequels to Barbie. According to Kreiz, Mattel’s “ambition is to create film franchises,” but they came into the Barbie movie just wanting to get it right first.
“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,” said Kreiz. “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,” Kreiz continued. “Our ambition is to create film franchises.”
Kreiz went on to say the hope is “that there is going to be a franchise,” and also spoke about the possibilities for what more Barbies could look like.
“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,” Kreiz said. “It’s a very rich universe… It’s a very broad and very elastic brand, in terms of opportunities.”
After an opening weekend of $162 million, Barbie scored the highest domestic gross on a Monday in Warner Bros. history with $26 million.