Could Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ sequel be in the pipeline?

Oscars may have snubbed Greta Gerwig-Margot Robbie’s duo in the major nominations, but the audience’s unfathomable love for the pink-tastic live-action Barbieland has spoken for itself. On March 9, just one day before the 2024 Academy Awards, Letterboxd released its list of ‘Most Obsessively Rewatched Best Picture Nominees of the 21st Century.’

Two out of these top 10 blockbusters are those that earned a Best Picture nod at this year’s ceremony– Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”. The full list in chronological order is: “La La Land” (2016), “Dune” (2021), “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (2022), “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), “Little Women” (2019), “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019), “Barbie” (2023), “Top Gun Maverick” (2022), “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Oppenheimer” (2023).

Movie buffs were delighted to see three Greta Gerwig movies make it to this list– “Little Women”, “Barbie” and “Lady Bird”. But even before the social platform revealed the public’s vote on the matter, Warner Bros Chief Pam Abdy made a heartwarming confession to BBC that will send all Barbie fans to cloud nine. The American film studio is all game for a sequel to last year’s supernova box-office hit. She signalled that Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros were “always talking” about the possibility of following up on their yesteryear success.

In the same interview, Abdy also pointed out that they’d “of course” been heartbroken when Gerwig and Robbie were shut out from the Academy nominations for Best Director and Best Lead Actress categories, respectively.

Having racked up USD 1.45 billion at the global box office, Greta Gerwig’s ensemble cinematic piece was the highest-grossing film of 2023. All these numbers and Gerwig’s contributions to Warner Bros Motion Picture Group are distinctly visible to the studio. But even though the WB team would ‘love’ for another movie to happen, the ball is ultimately in the “visionary” director’s court, whom Abdy also called “one of the best filmmakers working today.”

Gerwig is up for the sequel, too, but only if she finds the “undertow.”

Although Robbie and Margot were omitted from the list, Ryan Gosling secured a safe spot as one of the Best Supporting Actor nominees. He will also present a “very big” live performance of his “Barbie” song “I’m Just Ken”, which could feature up to 65 male backup dancers– that’s ‘Sublime!’ indeed.

Other “Barbie” nominations include “I’m Just Ken”, as one of the frontrunners in the Best Original Song list, along with Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For”, which will also be performed at the Sunday ceremony. America Ferrara has been recognised in the Best Supporting Actress list, Jacqueline Durran for Costume Design, with “Barbie’s” name also highlighted in the Production Design list. With Greta Gerwig-Noah Baumbach landing a nod in the Adapted Screenplay category, her 2023 film is evidently up in the Oscars 2024 Best Picture race as well.