As of now, Mattel has no plans to develop a live-action ‘Barbie‘ sequel. Instead, they are planning to collaborate with Illumination on an animated ‘Barbie’ film, with the goal of achieving success similar to ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie.’
Recently, a report from Puck‘s Matthew Belloni stated, “Mattel is in talks with Illumination—the company behind the ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Minions’ franchises—to bring an animated take on ‘Barbie’ to life.” Greta Gerwig—who directed ‘Barbie’—and Margot Robbie—who starred in the film—will not be involved in the animated franchise.
Speaking to Variety, Gerwig was asked about the ‘Barbie’ sequel. She said, “If I find the undertow, then we get it. If I don’t find an undertow, there’s no more.” she added, “It’s something that I loved making so much. And I loved the world that we built so much and all of the actors and the idea of getting to be with that group of people again is very exciting.”
Mattel holds the animation rights for Barbie, which will not impact their future collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures for the live-action franchise, even if they partner with Illumination. The live-action plans remain unchanged.
Illumination and Nintendo have reportedly pitched a shared cinematic universe, expanding from ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ to potentially include a Super Smash Bros. film and multiple spin-offs. It could be named the “Nintendo Cinematic Universe.” The success of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ has opened the door for Nintendo to create multiple films based on their popular games. Future possibilities include Punch-Out, Kid Icarus, Yoshi, Star Fox, Luigi’s Mansion, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, Pikmin, and Ice Climber.
‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2‘ is currently scheduled to hit theaters on April 3, 2026. Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath are directing, with the script written by Matthew Fogel.
‘Barbie’ was released in 2023. Directed by Gerwig—and starring Robbie as the title character and Ryan Gosling as Ken—the film has grossed $1.446 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023. A Ken spinoff starring Gosling is planned, but no announcement has been made by Mattel yet.
Source: Puck News
