Greta Gerwig Hopes Her Barbie Movie Launches a 'Bunch of Different' Barbie Movies (Exclusive)

Are there more Barbie stories to be told on the big screen? Greta Gerwig sure thinks so!

Speaking with PEOPLE for the special Barbie issue (out now) alongside stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and more, the director and co-writer, 39, says she hopes her film "is the launch of a world and a bunch of different Barbie movies."

"There’s a tone and a humor and a joy, and obviously the world is so beautiful," Gerwig adds. "I want to go back to Barbie Land."

Praising Gerwig, Robbie, 33, tells PEOPLE, "Greta has a very specific thing where she can be very silly and very clever at the same time, but it’s also very heartfelt."

"Her humor never feels cynical or cold," continues the actress, who plays the titular doll alongside Gosling, 42, as Ken. "It’s always warm and loving, but also really, really silly and kind of zany and absurd. I actually think it’s a bit of a throwback in tone. To be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve seen a movie that utilizes that kind of comedy in a long, long time."

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Gerwig's comments to PEOPLE about potential future Barbie film iterations come after Robbie addressed the possibility a TIME magazine cover story published last month.

"I think you fall into a bit of a trap if you try and set up a first movie whilst also planning for sequels," said the Oscar-nominated actress.

Still, she has been part of conversations about what the future holds for Barbie in terms of a cinematic experience to follow the upcoming movie, in theaters later this month.

"It could go a million different directions from this point," Robbie said.

Aside from Robbie and Gosling, some of Barbie's stars include Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Simu Liu and Ncuti Gatwa, who appear as different versions of Ken in the film. Meanwhile, Hari Nef, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Ana Cruz Kayne, Sharon Rooney, Kate McKinnon, Nicola Coughlan, Alexandra Shipp, Ritu Arya and Issa Rae play different versions of Barbie. Emerald Fennell will appear as Midge, and Michael Cera will play Allan.

At the time of the trailer's release, character posters were also unveiled for non-Barbie characters, including America Ferrera as "a human," Ariana Greenblatt as another "human," Helen Mirren as "the narrator," Connor Swindells as an "intern" and Jamie Demetriou as "a suit," plus Will Ferrell.

Asked how she began thinking about Barbie as a character, Gerwig tells PEOPLE, "Of course, I’ve known who Barbie is for forever, and there’s some sort of collective memory that I wanted to tap into, something about: We invent things like dolls to explain to ourselves what it means to be human."

"Part of me wondered if there was a way that we could allow the doll to also have that humanity," she adds. "Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Queen of Plastic was given something real?"

Barbie is in theaters July 21.

The special Barbie movie issue of PEOPLE is on newsstands now.