Mattel Films is the film production division of

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

originally formed on October 16, 2013, as Mattel Playground Productions as part of Mattel Global Brands, a unified media structural and strategy unit. On March 31, 2016, Mattel placed the division within a newly created division at the time, Mattel Creations, absorbed its operations into it and, seven months later, made it defunct due to poor

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

reception of the release of the

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

film '' Max Steel''. On September 6, 2018, the division was revived and reformed as Mattel Films.

History

A joint venture with Mattel and producer Robert B. Radnitz was launched in May 1970, which produced family films including '' Sounder'', '' Where the Lilies Bloom'', and '' A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich''. In March 2009,

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turn ...

, prior to being acquired by Mattel in 2012, launched its HIT Movies division in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with Julia Pistor as division head, to create films based on the company's franchises. The division's first planned film adaptation was a live-action ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...

'' film, scheduled for late 2010. Mattel Playground Productions

On October 26, 2013, Mattel launched Playground Productions (shortened as Mattel PGP or just PGP) as its in-house film studio to handle multimedia productions for its brands for global multi-platform distribution. Its first animated project was ''Team Hot Wheels: The Origin of Awesome!''. Mattel had been developing a live-action

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...

film at

Legendary Entertainment Legendary Entertainment, LLC (also known as Legendary Pictures or simply Legendary) is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major stu ...

and

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, films featuring the ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

'' and ''Barbie'' brands at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, a ''

Monster High Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children ages 7–14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi ...

'' film with Universal and a '' Max Steel'' film with Dolphin Entertainment. PGP was planned to set up three-year storytelling plans that incorporate every part of the company's core operations, from toy designers to consumer products and marketing. David Voss, a veteran in the toy and entertainment business, was appointed as the division's head and Senior Vice President. With

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

on March 17, 2014, Mattel PGP launched an online short form series, '' WWE Slam City'', to go along with its dedicated toy line. The series was picked up by

Nicktoons Nicktoons is the brand name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Paramount Global) in their copyright bylines. Since ...

' NickSports programming block from October 22, 2014. After Voss left the division in January 2016 for subscription service, Loot Crate, Mattel placed PGP within Mattel Creations upon its formation along with its other two content production units:

and the content creation team of

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old girls of various ethnicities, faiths, nationalities, and social classes throughout different time periods ...

at Middleton, Wisconsin. After the critical and commercial failure of the live action '' Max Steel'' film on October 14, 2016, Mattel Playground Productions was absorbed into Mattel Creations.

Reformation as Mattel Films

On September 6, 2018, Mattel announced the launch of a film division, Mattel Films, that will make films based on the company's toy brands. Outside Mattel, the division is widely recognized as the revival and replacement of Mattel PGP. Mattel Films with Academy Award-nominated film producer Robbie Brenner was appointed to head the division as executive producer and will report directly to Mattel's CEO,

Ynon Kreiz Ynon Kreiz () is an Israeli-American businessman and current chairman and CEO of Mattel.. He served as chairman and CEO of Fox Kids Europe from 1997–2002, chairman and CEO of television and digital production company Endemol from 2008 to 20 ...

. The division's first two projects were the ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

'' and ''

'' live-action films. On January 7, 2019, it was announced that Margot Robbie and

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...

would star in the ''Barbie'' film to be co-produced with

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...

and Robbie's production company,

LuckyChap Entertainment LuckyChap Entertainment Limited is a British-American production company based in Los Angeles and Bromsgrove, founded in 2014 by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr. The company describes their focal point as female-foc ...

. ''Barbie'' was released in theaters worldwide by ''Warner Bros. Pictures'' on July 21, 2023, and to date has made over $1.4 billion at the global box office and became the #1 highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. Pictures' 100-year history. With the ''

'' film rights option with

expired and reverted to Mattel, its film division shopped the property to Warner Bros. for a partnership on a film for the first time on January 29, 2019. The company teamed up with

for the first time on July 16, 2020, on adaptation of '' Wishbone'' to film. In October 2020, Mattel Films announced that a live-action animated ''Thomas & Friends'' film was in development, to be directed by

Marc Forster Marc Forster (born 30 November 1969) is a German-Swiss filmmaker. He is best known for directing the feature films ''Monster's Ball'', ''Finding Neverland (film), Finding Neverland'', ''Stranger than Fiction (2006 film), Stranger than Fiction'' ...

and developed by his

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

2Dux². On April 19, 2021, Mattel Films teamed up with

and Vin Diesel's

One Race Films One Race Films, also known as One Race Productions, is an American production company founded by actor Vin Diesel in 1995. It has produced a total of 15 films, all of which star Diesel, who also founded its subsidiaries Tigon Studios to create ...

for a live-action film adaptation of the 1966-launched toy, '' Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots'', starring Vin Diesel, a Barney film with

Daniel Kaluuya Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is an English actor. His work encompasses both screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Kaluuya, his accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two British Academy ...

, a Polly Pocket film with

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

and

Lily Collins Lily Jane Collins (born 18 March 1989) is an English and American actress. Born in Guildford and raised in Los Angeles, she began performing on screen at the age of two in the BBC sitcom ''Growing Pains''. In the late 2000s, she began acting a ...

. On June 24, 2021, Mattel Films and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

agreed to work on a live-action film for

Polly Pocket Polly Pocket is a toy line of inch-tall dolls and accessories sold by Mattel. The line was founded and designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 and was first sold to the public in 1989. Between 2012 and 2018, it was not sold in the US in 2012 and decli ...

. On December 16, 2021, Mattel Films announced its first project based on outside intellectual property: ''Christmas Balloon'', which is written by Gabriela Revilla Lugo. The film is intended to be based on the true story of a young girl who tried to send her Christmas message to Santa via a balloon. In July 2022, Mattel Films and Skydance announced the development of a live-action movie based on the

Matchbox A matchbox is a container or case for matches, made of paperboard, cardboard, thin wood, or metal, generally in the form of a box with a separate drawer sliding inside the cover. Matchboxes generally measure 5 x 3.5 x 1.5 cm, and commonly have ...

die-cast toy vehicles.

Filmography

References

{{Film studios Mattel subsidiaries 2013 establishments in California 2016 disestablishments in California 2018 establishments in California American companies established in 2013 American companies established in 2018 Re-established companies Companies based in El Segundo, California Mass media companies established in 2013 Mass media companies disestablished in 2016 Mass media companies established in 2018 Film production companies of the United States American animation studios

History

Reformation as Mattel Films

Filmography

See also

References