Following the blockbuster-hit live-action movie ‘Barbie,’ American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company Mattel is expanding its own ‘cinematic universe’ featuring some of its popular toys.
In 2018, Mattel brought in a new CEO Israeli-born businessman Ynon Kreiz who shifted the focus of the toy company into an IP-driven machine – including movies, TV shows, stage productions, and theme parks – after the continuous decline of toy sales in the past decade.
Among Kreiz’s first initiatives was to launch an in-house film division in the company, which brought Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ into fruition becoming the first film to be launched from Mattel Films – and on top of that, the movie which started screening on July 21 (internationally) has already grossed over $400 million globally, as of writing, and is expected to hit over the $500 million mark after its first week.
In an interview with Variety, it is shared that 14 Mattel properties are under active development to be turned into a film, with talks of a ‘Barbie’ sequel in the future.
“At the outset, we’re not saying, ‘Okay, let’s think already about movies two and three.’ Let’s get the first one right and make that a success. And if you do that, opportunities open up very quickly, once you establish the first movie as a successful representation of a franchise on the big screen,” Kreiz talking about the franchising of the ‘Barbie’ movie.
“Successful movies lend themselves to more movies,” he added. “Our ambition is to create film franchises.”
As such, aside from Barbie, some of the upcoming film projects which are currently in active development, as per Variety, include:
- “A24-type surrealistic” adaptation for purple dinosaur ‘Barney.’
- A family comedy centered on micro-doll ‘Polly Pocket’ which will star Lily Collins, written and directed by Lena Dunham.
- A “grounded and gritty” adaptation of the toy car ‘Hot Wheels.’
- A film based on the tabletop game of battling robots ‘Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots’ starring Vin Diesel.
- A family comedy based on the doll ‘American Girl.’
- A “PG-13 thriller” based on ‘Magic 8 Ball.’
- A superhero film based on ‘Masters of the Universe.’
- A film based on the astronaut action figure ‘Major Matt Mason’ starring Tom Hanks.
- A film based on the card game ‘UNO.’
- An adventure comedy based on the ‘90s TV series ‘Wishbone.’
- An action movie based on toy cars ‘Matchbox.’
- A fantasy film based on ‘Thomas & Friends.’
- An adventure film based on the picture viewer toy ‘View Master.’
- A family drama based on a true story when “Mattel donated toys to make a young girl’s dream come true” titled ‘Christmas Balloon.’
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