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Mattel has big, big plans, and a Barbie movie is just the beginning.
According to a new (and very comprehensive) report from the New Yorker, Mattel has 45 toy-centered films in development. The list includes Daniel Kaluuya's Barney movie, a Hot Wheels movie from J.J Abrams, a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots movie starring Vin Diesel, a Polly Pocket movie from Lena Dunham, a He-Man: Masters of the Universe movie starring West Side Story's Kyle Allen, and a movie about Major Matt Mason (the forgotten astronaut action hero that inspired Buzz Lightyear) starring Tom Hanks. A View-Master project, based on the little clicky toy that functions as a handheld slide show, is also reportedly in the works.
The report goes on to explain that Miramax veteran Robbie Brenner, the newly appointed head of Mattel Films, has been tasked with assembling a team of development executives to rummage through "Mattel’s toy chest and identify I.P. that could be fodder for Hollywood studios." The company will aid in matching properties with writers, actors, and directors.
"In the world we’re living in, I.P. is king. Pre-awareness is so important," Brenner stated.
While Greta Gerwig's Barbie is a surrealist comedy that follows Barbie and Ken as they leave Barbieland to search for meaning in the 'real world.' Kaluuya's Barney movie is being shopped to prospective partners as an "A24-type film" with "millennial angst." It'll be interesting to see what direction these other toy movies take, considering that Hot Wheels are tiny toy race cars that must be manually moved down a plastic track and that Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots are plastic robots that punch each other in a little ring. Will they anthropomorphize the Hot Wheels like the Disney movie Cars or invent a bunch of gritty racecar drivers with tortured backgrounds? Will Vin Diesel be one of the plastic robots? We have no idea what's to come, but we're here for it.
Barbie hits theaters on July 21. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond.
