Barbie is an unparalleled success. It has had a record-breaking opening weekend, and the box office continues to rake in millions of dollars with each passing hour. For Mattel, the company behind the doll and the movie, the world is now rosy.
In 2018, after facing significant sales challenges, Mattel brought in a new CEO, businessman Ynon Kreiz, who had the vision of transforming the iconic toy company into an intellectual property-driven powerhouse, essentially creating a Mattel cinematic universe. Similar to Marvel, but with toys.
Now, with the immense success of “Barbie,” Mattel has a green light to do whatever it wants, and it already has a slew of projects in the works. However, honestly, it doesn’t sound very promising.
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With dozens of children’s toys in their film lineup, Mattel currently has 14 properties actively in development, including “Barney,” “Polly Pocket,” “Thomas & Friends,” and “American Girl.”
Of course, the door is also wide open for sequels to Barbie’s own movie. Director Greta Gerwig has stated that she is not currently considering a continuation, saying, “Right now, this is all I have.”
After the hot pink fantasy starring Margot Robbie raked in an astonishing $380 million worldwide in its first five days at the box office, it’s a safe bet that Mattel and Warner Bros. will want more.
In statements to Variety about their intellectual property strategy just days before the release of “Barbie,” Mattel executives expressed hope in opening up a whole world of Barbie sequels.
“Barbie, as a brand, has many different iterations. The Barbie product line is a very broad brand. In addition to the main Barbie figure, she has family, and there are many elements within her universe,” Kreiz told Variety. “It’s a very rich universe… It’s a very broad and very elastic brand, in terms of opportunities.”
“The success of movies lends itself to more movies,” added the CEO. “Our ambition is to create cinematic franchises.”
Robbie Brenner stated that the company was hopeful that Barbie would become a box office hit, so they could explore potential sequels.
The same applies to the rest of their catalog, which includes mature toy lines for franchises such as “Masters of the Universe” and “Hot Wheels.”
“Everyone hopes that when a movie is made, it creates a franchise,” said Brenner to Variety. “That’s the hope: that it continues and continues and becomes a gift that keeps on giving. But in the current times, you just want to get it right with the first one.”
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