Mattel Exec Talks BARNEY Movie With Daniel Kaluuya; Plus AMERICAN GIRL Doll and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Films

There’s a whole lot in the works as far as TV and movies go for the toy company Mattel. Since the 2023 summer blockbuster mega-hit Barbie was released, the company has been working hard to see how it can profit on its other properties. This has led to both the upcoming Barney movie which will star Nope and Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya, as well as this week’s return to the character with the new animated Max series Barney’s World.

The company is also working on a film based on the American Girl doll line and a release of a big-budget adaptation of Masters of the Universe with Amazon MGM Studios next June.

Barney’s World, which debuted Monday on Max and will have its linear launch Oct. 18 on Cartoon Network, is a prime example of how Mattel’s TV and film groups are working overtime to keep Millennial, Gen Z and preschool-aged consumers (which they prefer to refer to as “fans,” per Silverman) engaged heading into their eight decade of business.

Mattel chief franchise officer Josh Silverman sat down with Variety to talk about the upcoming projects, first touching on the rebooted Barney show:

“Barney” was certainly one of the diamonds in the rough that we identified early on. We recognize that “Barney” has a really passionate fan base. Gen Z and Millennials who grew up with the show had an incredible connection. To this day, you can even just whistle a song from “Barney,” and people are like, oh my goodness, I know that. That emotion there is really, really important. Those sense memories, particularly for Gen Z and Millennials, bring you back to this wonderful time in childhood where these stories were so resonant, so important. Many of the fans now are parents, and so we saw this as a really nice opportunity to relaunch the franchise. The insights that we had on “Barney,” and certainly a lot of conversations we had with our fans, showed us the opportunity to really connect with our audience with the term we’re referring to, as “newstalgia.” It refers to something new for this younger generation, so in this case, preschoolers, but nostalgic for people that grew up with it. And the ability for them to do it together is really unique.

He went on to talk about other new projects, including the Masters of the Universe movie:

I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight my excitement for “Masters of the Universe.” Talk about world building; June 26 is gonna be incredible. And we are so excited Travis Knight directing, we’ve announced a number of cast, Nicholas Galitzine. And it’s something that we’re gonna certainly turn the volume up on a little bit as we continue to ramp up. We want to continue to extend our iconic IP, sometimes it’ll be to relaunch, in the case of “Barney,” or leverage and tell new stories that could go in any different direction.

When asked if the new American Girl doll movie will aim to be the next Barbie, Silverman said:

We treat all our IP in some ways discrete, and we want to tell those stories and engage with our fans in a way that is meaningful to them, and so it’s not a contrast or comparison. We really want to lean in and love the IP and make sure that we’re delivering to the fans the things that they would expect, but also what they don’t expect. I think that’s that’s a real power for us is to be looking around corners and anticipating wants and needs and create things that are frame-breaking and surprise and delight with whimsy. When it comes to American Girl, it is the pioneer in experiential retail. It was the first, and continues to be, in my mind, the best. Mattell does a lot in live experiences, locations, entertainment, experiential. But the authentic article, the originator, was American Girl. The audience is ages zero to 99. People love the stories and it ties into both history, “The Care and Keeping of You,” there’s Girl of the Year. There’s so many elements that you can enter the story through for developing films, developing some television content.

There is surely a lot in the works for the toy company, and luckily, it sounds like there’s something for everyone. Stay tuned for updates on the upcoming projects, and let us know which Mattel property you’re most looking forward to seeing more of.

via: Variety