One thing everyone can agree on is that if Barbie gets a sequel – which Warner Bros. is no doubt going to try its hardest to make happen – then Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling will make a killing seeing as they only signed on for one movie.
However, how much the star and producer of the box office sensation stands to earn from the all-conquering Mattel adaptation remains up for debate, with early reports of a $50 million payday sounding as though it may have been a very generous estimate.
On The Town podcast, industry insider Matthew Belloni offered that there’s no chance Robbie will be walking away so close to the breadline, with her Barbie winnings set to vastly exceed the figures that were first touted.
“By the way, that’s low. That is ridiculously low. I heard it’s way higher. There was a Variety report that she’s going to get $50 million dollars in Barbie, it’s actually more than that.”
It all depends on what type of contract Robbie signed, particularly when she was pulling double duty as both the lead and one of the key producers. Then you’ve got to factor in box office-related bonuses, profit participation, and whether or not she’ll see anything on the back-end once home video sales and digital purchases are factored in.
If Belloni’s information is correct, then it stands to reason that Robbie will be landing one of the single largest windfalls any star has ever received for a single project, which only serves to strengthen the notion that Barbie really is a generational smash hit.