By Richard Gottlieb
Mattel and Hasbro have been busy turning their favorite toys into movies. Two of these movies, Barbie and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, have 2023 release dates. The other four are in various stages of development.
As I reviewed the available articles on these movies, it struck me just how challenging it must be for a toy company to make a movie. Developing and manufacturing a toy is a finite process. We know how long it will take from inception to market, and the trajectory rarely alters.
Movie making, however, appears to have a nebulous quality to it. There is little certainty about who will star, much less when a movie will actually release. There has been, as an example, a Monopoly movie in the works since 2008.
So, kudos to Mattel and Hasbro for having the courage and patience to enter an arena foreign to how we in the toy industry do business. It will be interesting to see what impact the process of movie-making will ultimately have on how we conduct our business.
Easily the most anticipated toy tie-in movie, Barbie, will release in July of 2023. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are set to star in what should turn out to be a very interesting live-action adaption.
Mattel’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
Not an animated feature but a human cast potentially starring Vin Diesel. There is no set release date because they have to wait for Diesel to find time from his busy Fast & Furious movies.
It’s hard to imagine how you can make a movie about a card game, but you can. The film is said to center around a murder during a game of Uno.
This will be the second time around for a Clue movie, as one was released in 1985. Ryan Reynolds will star.
Monopoly seems like an excellent basis for a film, yet a proposed movie has been in the works since 2008. Kevin Hart is set to star. The movie will not release for another five years.
Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
It will be interesting to see how the game works as a movie. Hugh Grant is one of the actors set for this movie set to release on Christmas day, 2023
Richard Gottlieb is the CEO of Global Toy Experts, and Publisher of Global Toy News.