Executives preparing to run the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. businesses are already moving to keep a sequel to “Barbie” alive, according to Variety, even though the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery does not formally close until next week.
Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, the Paramount Pictures leaders expected to take on a broader creative role over film labels at both studios, have been reaching out to key Warner talent to establish continuity, Variety reported Friday. That outreach includes Margot Robbie and her partners at LuckyChap Entertainment. A separate knowledgeable source told the trade that efforts are already underway to lock in a sequel to Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film, which had stalled over cost. “There’s no way ‘Barbie 2’ doesn’t happen,” the source said.
No agreements with Gerwig, Robbie, or Ryan Gosling have been announced. Variety’s account does not say Gerwig has been contacted. The sequel claim rests on that anonymous source, set against the Robbie outreach and a leadership change closely tied to the original movie.
David Ellison, who will chair the combined company, has named Ynon Kreiz, the outgoing chief executive of Mattel, as co-chief executive. Kreiz joined Mattel in 2018 and oversaw the push that turned the doll into a theatrical release. “Barbie,” starring Robbie and directed by Gerwig from a script she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, grossed nearly $1.45 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. history. Ellison remains responsible for strategy, film and television, and technology. Kreiz is set to run day-to-day operations and integration once the deal closes.
The parent company will be called Skydance, the name of the studio Ellison founded 20 years ago. Warner Bros., Paramount, and HBO will remain as brands. In a staff memo obtained by Variety, Ellison wrote that the company did not want a new corporate identity to “diminish, alter or overshadow” either studio, and that the Skydance name was meant to give the combined business an identity of its own while leaving those brands in the spotlight.
Goldberg and Greenstein’s expanded post, which would include oversight of label heads such as New Line’s Richard Brener, has not been made official. Elsewhere in the pending structure, Casey Bloys is the presumptive head of streaming after the exit of Paramount+ executive Cindy Holland. That, too, is not yet official.
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are out. Variety confirmed the decision late Thursday and reported that it shocked them, though another executive familiar with the pair said that if they were surprised, “they’re the only ones.” Their standing had been one of the open questions in the deal. The motion picture group posted heavy losses for Warner Bros. Discovery this year after a strong 2025. Ellison spoke with them Friday, which is thought to be their last day on the Warner lot in Burbank.
The sequel had already been in trouble under the outgoing regime. The New York Times reported in July that Warner Bros. has a rights deal with Mattel but still needs agreements with Gerwig, Robbie, and Gosling, and that those rights revert to Mattel in December if a sequel is not put into active development. Studio co-chairs said then that Warner had made a series of substantial offers and had not been able to close. A studio spokeswoman said talent representatives declined a May offer and had not countered. Subsequent reporting described the package as among the richest Warner had ever put forward, and put Gosling’s asking price at $20 million to return as Ken.
Mattel, for its part, has other Barbie projects in motion. Robbie Brenner, head of Mattel Studios and a producer on the first film, said at the Toronto International Film Festival in September that the company wants a sequel, while noting current focus on an animated Barbie feature with Chris Meledandri.
The acquisition, cleared by a federal judge on Sept. 30 after a settlement with a group of states and the Writers Guild of America, is expected to close next week. Until then, Ellison does not formally control Warner Bros. Discovery. The reporting suggests the incoming team is not waiting on the close to start the conversation that the current one could not finish.
