Greta Gerwig doesn’t have any ideas for Barbie 2, and that’s fine
Not every movie based on recognizable I.P. needs to be a universe unto itself
Aux Features Barbie
America has Barbie fever. From sea to shining sea and the theaters within, happy Mattel customers are sharing their Barbenheimer experience and reveling in the joy of Barbie. It is a winning film with a keen visual style (the magic of a well lit set), fresh performances, and jokes aplenty. But inevitably, as the pink hangover washes over the movie-going public, we’ll have to reckon with the movie’s inevitable sequel. Barbie 2 must be on the horizon, right? Right?
Per The New York Times, it doesn’t sound like much has moved on that front. At least as far as the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, is concerned. “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,” Gerwig told the Times. “I wouldn’t want to squash anybody else’s dream, but for me, at this moment, I’m at totally zero.”
This is a huge relief. As much as we’d all like to see a little more of Allan, the mad dash to fart out a sequel to every successful film has created a cinematic ecosystem where every ticket comes with an assigned viewing list. People talk a lot about superhero fatigue, but a more accurate reading of the situation is sequel fatigue. This year, franchise movies are falling short, with sure-bets like Ant-Man, Fast & Furious, and Mission: Impossible underperforming. The steady churn of follow-ups has caused cracks in the foundations of the MCU, as each new installment creates less excitement than the last. They make money, sure, but they also generate a lot of noise. At this point, getting into Marvel movies is a 70-hour undertaking, not even including the shows. This year alone, we will see three films and supposedly five Disney+ shows. Moreover, and perhaps most embarrassingly, The Sound Of Freedom is making more waves this summer than Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.
Barbie offered a rarity in our cinematic landscape: An entry point. One can buy a ticket to the movie, get a quick primer on this doll everyone is talking about, and understand the plot from there. Adding an interlocking Mattle-iverse upon that would be like getting gum stuck in Midge’s hair. Just look at Barbie’s forebearer, The Lego Movie, another seemingly impossible project based on a toy, starring Will Ferrell as the adult heavy. The surprise success of the first film meant that by 2019, we had three sequels, but only one that connected with audiences, The Lego Batman Movie.
The speed with which these forces ramp up is fast, and though Mattel execs try to play the good guy in interviews, talking about the brand’s integrity, we already know they want to make a Magic 8 Ball movie—and have been trying to make it since 2010. If we want Barbie to remain this special thing, we all should wait for inspiration to strike Gerwig a second time before returning to Barbie Land. Until then, one is Kenough.
57 Comments
The sequel to Barbie is Skipper. Everybody knows that.
And the sequel to Skipper is The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island.
It was a trilogy.
A thrillogy!
Random aside, here. I met Meadowlark Lemon in the early 90’s at a signing event in a mall. I asked him what it was like to be on Gilligan’s Island. His reply, “I wasn’t on Gilligan’s Island. I was on trash island.” Dude seemed bitter.
He was not on Gilligan’s Island.https://en.wikipedia.org wiki/The_Harlem_Globetrotters_on_Gilligan%27s_IslandLook at the credits.Besides, Meadowlark Lemon left the Globtrotters in 1980. The Gilligan’s Island TV movie came out in 1981. Filming of the movie most likely started after Lemon left.
Damn. That’s a deeper dive than this really warranted. I salute your dedication. Just bitter for a different reason, I guess.
Right?
I haven’t seen the film, but I looked it up for the purposes of commenting on this article, and apparently Skipper went rogue at some point in the past. You explore that event and its consequences. The only tricky part is figuring out where the social commentary comes in, but we can let the writers worry about that when they’re not on strike anymore.
Skipper is the Scrappy-Doo of Barbie?
You’re thinking of Ginger.
Yeah, but that doesn’t count. I’m always thinking about Ginger. Or a ginger. It’s kinda what I do.
Barbie II: The Wrath of Ken
that sounds keen!
As, well…you know:
“Don’t be yella ‘bout’cher KEEN’S!”
“Not every movie based on recognizable I.P. needs to be a universe unto itself”Ah I wish that were so. But it’s Zazlov at the wheel here… and there’s no way he doesn’t learn every possible wrong lesson from this
If we want Barbie to remain this special thing, we all should wait for inspiration to strike Gerwig a second time before returning to Barbie Land.We shouldn’t even wait. We should just be happy the first one was great. Never getting a sequel would make it more special, if anything.
But…but…money.
“This is a huge relief.”
Really? There’s a whole lineup of DC movies and shows and you’d better believe people will show up for them. Just because there’s some superhero fatigue that means that a movie like Barbie shouldn’t have any successors? Give it a series then. And a few spinoffs.As you said, those tired movies are still making money. If Barbiedom wants to get in on the action it absolutely should. This is some low-key sexism, imo.
Wait, you’re saying that because superhero movies are making money churning out garbage we should welcome the prospect of other kinds of movies making money churning out garbage, and if we don’t it’s sexist?
That seemed difficult for you. Well done.
Maybe you just aren’t a great satirist.
You are mistaken. People aren’t showing up for DC movies. They haven’t in a long time and they continue to lose money.
Why would you believe that people are going to show up for the DC movies? They haven’t recently.
I say this with the concession that I did not like the Barbie movie very much.But to me Greta Gerwig will always be the friend from No Strings Attached the one who lets Ashton Kutcher into the apartment because he brings cupcakes, and the one who says, “It’s like a crime scene in my pants.”
To me she’ll always be Brahbrah from Flight of the Conchords. And then I remember my mistake.
I didn’t like Frances Ha the first time, but the second time I saw it I found it to be a delight. I think Gerwig’s movies work really really well when you’re in a bit of a kindred spirit alongside her.
No it’s not fine!
NOBODY makes movies today as some sort of stand-alone artistic statement, without a plan for a franchise in place!
Nobody was pretty good
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobody_(2021_film)#SequelAnd
I wouldn’t mind that crossover idea either.
Gerwig is clearly very talented. Let her go off and do something else that’s interesting in a different way.The price you end up paying for something this successful is that it’s going to inspire dozens of clones, each of them more cliche and less interesting than the one before.
People are ridiculous that they’re already asking this question. What sequel in recent memory was as good as the original. When we go fully docile as a society we’re gonna do it with a huge smile on our face.
That’s…what docile means?
Depends on what you mean recent memory, but Captain America, Winter Soldier for sure.
I don’t know how far back your memory goes but:Aliens > AlienTerminator 2: Judgement Day > The TerminatorBut, yes, the inevitable Barbie sequel is going to disappoint
Wrong in both cases. Fitting with a trend that Tom Breihan pointed out on this site with James Cameron’s script for Rambo, transforming a property into a dumb action vehicle.
I wouldn’t say Aliens > Alien. I would say Aliens = Alien.
Both are great, but they’re different movies. One is a horror movie, one is an action movie.
I think that both films are combination action/horror films, with the accent on horror for the original and the accent on action for the sequel. So, yes, you can argue that are different movies, but I still liked Aliens better.
I would counter and say those are not better but different and cool in new ways.
Star Treks II, III, IV, VI, and First Contact, at least, were better than The Motion PictureEmpire Strikes BackThor: RagnorokCaptain America: The Winter SoldierSpider-Man 2X2LoganThe Dark KnightGodfather IIPaddington 2Several of the Bond films, including GoldfingerSome of the later Missions: ImpossibleEvil Dead 2 (and Army of Darkness, IMO)
Aliens is definitely a worse film than Alien in actual, measurable ways.
I’ll list sequels better than the original…
The Raid 2 The Suicide Squad,Resident Evil:Apocalypse (I know, that isn’t saying much) Godzilla: King of the Monsters Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows The Conjuring 2Top Gun: MaverickX-men 2X-men Days of Future PastBill and Ted 2
This is a better list than the other person. I haven’t seen half of these, but Aliens being better than Alien is a hard no for me. Agreed on The Suicide Squad, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Top Gun: Maverick. Disagree on Resident Evil (though I can understand why Apocalypse could be more appealing) and The Conjuring 2 (scary but overly long). I watched The Raid for the first time recently and while the action is amazing, it felt like a grim slog so I had no interest in watching the sequel. Maybe I’ll give The Raid 2 a chance.
Resident Evil Extinction (the third one, directed by Russell Mulcahy) is the pick of the bunch. Apocalypse is really bad and possibly the worst of the whole lot.
The Secret of the Ooze better than the first one? Nah. It was pretty good, though. I enjoyed it.
Godfather 2 and Empire Strikes Back are not on your list.
The Last Jedi was better than Force Awakens. Subjective opinion so please dont destroy internet folks…
The most likely outcome from this is Gerwig sees no need for a sequel, Zaslav disagrees, and so Barbie 2 comes out written by Akiva Goldsman and directed by David Ayer.
Barbie II: Escape from UranusIt pretty much writes itself.
Also works as a Toy Story sequel.
“If we want Barbie to remain this special thing”Is that a thing we want? I’m not saying there needs to be a sequel–heck, I haven’t seen this one yet!–but I’ve never gotten this obsession with maintaining some sort of purity in things we like. The “don’t rape my childhood” of it all.
Best advice for Greta — walk away from Barbie. Let someone else do it. That way, when the sequel is awful (base-rates say it is likely to be awful), she gets extra plaudits for having done it right the first time. If a sequel is good then she still gets credit for creating the world that allowed for a successful sequel. Win-Win!!!
Might I suggest a sequel where barbie goes to another Mattel tentpole property, He-Man? She-ra can act as a go between, and Greta Gerwig can explore fun topics like toxic masculinity, steroid abuse, and the latent homoeroticism of watching a man with a blonde bob lead a secret life where he runs around in a leather harness and fur speedos.
How could she top her first great idea, “men are bad”?