‘Barbie 2’ talks hit snag over $25M paydays for Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig in new test for David Ellison

Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig have reportedly sought $25 million each, plus larger shares of profits, to make a proposed “Barbie 2”. Negotiations stalled under Warner Bros.’ former management, leaving Skydance chief David Ellison to decide whether to strike a deal as he expands the studio’s film plans while cutting costs across its newly acquired media business.

The proposal reportedly includes a writing fee shared by Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach, and former Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav objected to the profit-sharing terms. Skydance completed its $111 billion takeover of WBD on 6 October; sources cited by Variety said Ellison, agent Bryan Lourd and former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz hope to reach an agreement by year’s end. Skydance has about $80 billion in net debt and expects more than $6 billion in interest costs in 2027, while targeting at least $6 billion in annual savings over three years.