Helen Mirren Explains Why She ‘Can’t Imagine’ a ‘Barbie’ Sequel (Exclusive)

Helen Mirren is one of the stars of Barbie, which became the biggest film of 2023. And while a Barbie sequel seems like a no-brainer, the 78-year-old Academy Award winner believes there’s no need for another film about the iconic doll. PopCulture.com recently spoke to Mirren about being part of a potential if that were to happen. 

“I can’t imagine a sequel,” Mirren told PopCulture. “Somehow it’s a one-off thing, that film. Honestly, I hope they don’t do a sequel. Although, I’ll probably be eating my words in about six months time, but it was such an individual piece of work. And of course, people think, ‘Oh my God, it made so much money, we’d love to make that much money again.’ Sometimes you should just let sleeping dogs lie. You should say, ‘That was great. Let’s move on. Let’s do something else.’ But honestly, if it was Greta [Gerwig] was involved and she asked me, of course, I’d say yes.”

Mirren was the narrator of the film which focused on Barbie (Margot Robbie) going to the real world to cure her different issues she was having, such as worrying about mortality and having flat feet. Alongside Robbie and Mirren in the film were Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Will Ferrell and Rhea Perlman. Barbie made over $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023. The fact that Barbie was a massive hit was surprising for Mirren. 

“I’m thrilled because it’s a film about women,” she said. “To have a film that’s overtly about the female experience become such a huge success is pretty rare. I can’t think of another film in the history of film really that’s about that subject and had that success. It’s a huge credit to Greta and indeed her husband Noah, in the cleverness of the writing, that it was so accessible, but at the same time, so clever. It was absolutely fantastic. Really great.” 

Barbie is not only the highest-grossing film of the year, but it has also received critical acclaim, earning seven Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.