Everything
Barbie has had a big year. After venturing into the real world, suffering existential crises, overthrowing the plastic patriarchy in ‘Kendom Land’ and making her first visit to the gynaecologist (kudos!), the doll has well and truly done it all.
Her real-life counterpart, Margot Robbie, wasn’t immune to this exhaustive itinerary either. However, with a 118-day-long historic actor’s strike and a reprieve from constantly dressing in Barbiecore, it seems that the space has given Robbie time to reflect on what her fictional character’s future could look like.
With Greta Gerwig’s film grossing over USD$1.4 billion at the box office, that’s over 2.1 billion Australian dollars, purveyors of the certified cult classic have questioned whether a potential Barbie sequel could be in the works.
However, it seems that any hopes of revisiting the dream house may be dashed before production could even get off the ground. Indeed, Robbie has declared the world has had ‘k-enough’ of their subversive Barbie-verse, with the actor and producer addressing rumours in a new interview.
Touching on the possibilities of Barbie 2, Robbie explained, “I think we [the cast and crew] put everything into this one.”
“We didn’t build it to be a trilogy or something. Greta put everything into this movie, so I can’t imagine what would be next,” the 33-year-old added.
Robbie also shared her takeaway from the filming process, noting her belief that “original films can still hit huge at the box office”. Though the story was an entirely original retelling of the beloved pop-culture icon, Robbie noted that success films don’t “have to be a sequel or prequel or a remake”.
“It can be totally original. It can still be big given the budget to do that. Just because it’s a female lead doesn’t mean it’s not going to hit all four quadrants which is a misconception that a lot of people have.”
For context, “four quadrants” is a marketing term used in Hollywood to describe motion pictures that appeal to a wide range of demographics, including a critical four of men under 25, women under 25, men over 25 and women over 25.
“It’s really important that Barbie did well,” Robbie continued. “As much as it is nice, it’s also important so that people can also, in future, have big original ideas and be given the budgets to execute them properly.”
Robbie’s outlook that Barbie shouldn’t receive a sequel also makes her devotion to Gerwig’s storytelling apparent. Given the fact the Australian star walked away with over AUD$75 million for her work as the titular lead, Robbie could’ve very easily helmed a follow-up.
But why tamper with a winning formula? And with awards season just around the corner, it’s clear those involved with the film are gearing up to go home after a period of going big with a capital, pink, Barbiecore ‘B’.
