Discovery CEO David Zaslav Allegedly Rejecting Offers That Included a Massive Upfront Payday for Ryan Gosling

A sequel to Greta Gerwig's box office sensation Barbie is reportedly stalled over negotiations about its stars' salaries, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav allegedly rejecting offers that included a massive upfront payday for Ryan Gosling. Margot Robbie and Gosling led the 2023 movie as Mattel's iconic dolls Barbie and Ken, respectively.

The Warner Bros. production earned more than $1.4 billion at the box office and garnered eight Oscar nominations. However, the studio is racing against time: the rights to Barbie will revert to Mattel if it does not secure a deal with the principal talent for a sequel by December, The New York Times reports.

According to The Times, Warner Bros. executives have been negotiating with Robbie, Gosling, and Gerwig for months without success. Two people familiar with the talks told The Times that Zaslav rejected offers that included a cut of the profits for the film's stars, provided it hit a box office target, and a $20 million upfront payday for Gosling.

In a statement to The Independent, a Warner Bros. spokesperson disputed that Zaslav had "balked" at the terms, per The Times' reporting. "Over three years, a half dozen offers have been made by WB to the creative team behind the original Barbie movie.

There was never an agreed upon framework that was approved and pulled back. Reps declined the most recent offer which is among the biggest Warner Bros. has made for a film.

No counter has been made to date, the spokesperson added. "With respect to Mattel's rights, they cannot move toward [sic] with any of the original elements from the first film in the event the rights were to revert. The Independent has contacted representatives for Robbie, Gosling, and Warner Bros. for comment.

The first film followed Robbie's Stereotypical Barbie as she leaves the utopian Barbieland for the real world to fix an existential crisis. It became one of just 53 movies in box office history to make over $1 billion, not accounting for inflation, and the biggest to be directed by a woman. Robbie produced the film via her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, which she founded in 2014 with her now-husband, Tom Ackerley.

LuckyChap is a consistent producing partner with Warner Bros., delivering Wuthering Heights in early 2025, currently in production on Oceans (in which Robbie also stars) set to release June 2027, and will produce the film Nasty for the studio's recently launched Clockwork label. Warner Bros. also has a Hot Wheels project in development with Mattel.

According to three Variety sources, Robbie earned around $50 million from the first film in salary and box office bonuses. The film transcended the box office to become a cultural moment, fuelled by its instantly recognisable pink branding, inventive marketing, and its unlikely pairing with Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer — a phenomenon that inspired the "Barbenheimer" nickname.