Margot Robbie Not Planning Return For 'Barbie' Sequel Despite $50 Million Payday: 'It's Pretty Much Off The Table'
Sept. 22 2023, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
Dollface Margot Robbie won't return for a sequel to the $1.4 billion box office smash Barbie, sources dished — allegedly no matter how much money studio bosses throw her way, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Australian beauty and her husband, Tom Ackerley, both 33, were co-producers on the hit flick, which has helped the bubbly blonde pocket more than $50 million, tipsters claimed.
Now, Robbie is allegedly happy to let her Barbie costar Ryan Gosling, 42, play around in a new film focusing on his lovelorn character, Ken, moles blabbed to the National Enquirer.
"Everybody at the studio is talking about making a Ken movie, while the idea of building another movie around Margot as Barbie is pretty much off the table," the insider told the outlet.
"For Margot, it's all about the story. The Barbie movie ended with Margot's Barbie becoming a real woman. A follow-up to that journey isn't needed. There's plenty of room for Ryan to do a full-blown Ken movie, which Margot will be involved with behind the scenes."
According to the insider, Greta Gerwig — who directed the comedy from a screenplay she wrote with her husband, Noah Baumbach — purposely didn't build the film's universe around just one Barbie.
But don't count Robbie out yet. The spy also said bullheaded Warner Bros. bosses may still offer a mint to Margot in an attempt to lure her back.
Despite the success of the film, Robbie's Ken had to have a little convincing before he initially signed onto the movie.
“I just bribed him really. That’s the basis of our relationship,” the Birds of Prey actress told the New York Times of her journey at coaxing Gosling to play Ken. “Just come do the ‘Barbie’ movie, I’ll buy you a present every day.”
The actor said Robbie's bribes “started as a joke in a text," adding, “There was suddenly this pink present from Barbie to Ken, every day, for a very long shoot. It felt unsustainable."
“I thought this has to stop at some point. There were times on set where I got a puka shell necklace.”
“You don’t have to keep doing this,” he said to Robbie during the interview. “I’m sure you have other things to do, like produce a movie and star in a movie, and run a company. And produce other people’s films. You don’t have to keep concerning yourself with this.”
“I commit to a joke. I really do,” Robbie shot back.
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Gosling, who shares two daughters — Esmeralda, 8, and Amada, 7 — with longtime partner Eva Mendes, said his children were “confused” when he told them he landed the role of Ken.
“My kids were my introduction to [‘Barbie’],” he told People. “I think they’re confused as to why I would want to play Ken. They have no use for Ken.”
He later admitted that his daughters helped him prepare for the character, revealing they "were a huge sense of support and doing it with me off-camera."