How 'Masters of the Universe' will use the 'Barbie' playbook

Mattel (MAT) is hoping that He-Man and his Power Sword can bring the same magic that "Barbie" brought to the box office. The company recently announced it's teaming up with Amazon MGM Studios (AMZN) to bring "Masters of the Universe" to the big screen on June 5, 2026.

Speaking with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi at the 2024 Milken Institute Global Conference, Mattel Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz says the move is part of the company's "strategy to continue to capture value for Mattel outside of the toy aisle." While Kreiz admits that not every movie can be a "Barbie," Mattel is "absolutely looking to apply the same methodology and the same approach" to "Masters of the Universe." He also says the same ideas will be applied to marketing the movie, saying, "The approach will be about infusing purpose, creating cultural relevance and currency."

Watch the video above to hear Kreiz discuss what's next for Barbie and his outlook for the holiday shopping season.

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This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.

Video transcript

All right, good amount of focus on the health of the consumer and what they may or may not be buying come the holiday season.Yes, we're actually starting to think about the holiday shopping season.Talk some toys with Mattel, CEO in on cries and good to see you again.It feels like we were just here like we were just here a year ago, right?What year it was.I know.So what's our masters of the universe?Big news out of your company?Why is that so important?And how are you going to grow it?Well, masters of the universe is an iconic brand, an incredible mythology, and we could not be more excited about bringing this movie to the big screen and the small screens as well.Uh, all the screens.Uh, it's a great franchise, and it's really part of our strategy to continue to capture value for Mattel outside of the toy Ale.Our vision for Mattel Films is to collaborate with leading filmmakers to create standout quality movies based on our iconic brands and, uh, attach culture and appeal to audiences everywhere.And it's very much about that journey.Of course, home ra with Barbie.We all know that.How do you make every movie Barbie ish like?Should investors be thinking masters of the universe is gonna perform like Barbie?Well, we don't say that every movie will be the next Barbie, but we're absolutely looking to apply the same methodology and the same approach in collaborating with leading filmmakers, leveraging and amplifying their creative vision in our iconic brands, then creating demand in the marketplace the way we are approaching all of our brand evolution is about infusing brand purpose and cultural relevance.And this is the common theme that we expect that will play out in all of our product and experiences.That very much has been behind the success of Barbie, of course, in collaboration with the creative genius of Greta Gerwig, bringing and creating something that will stand out in culture.So when does masters of the universe When does that hit?And you know, what is that?What is that marketing campaign?Because I was thinking back to Barbie and that whole campaign, I mean, it captured It wasn't just a US thing.It was a global phenomenon.That's right.The Barbie campaign was very much about demand creation and how we collaborated with the Warner Brothers who did an incredible job on the marketing side of the movie.And then we came with our capabilities and created a cultural event through marketing and promotion and activation all over the world, across retail and with consumer products.Masses of the universe is an incredible franchise.It has a large built in fan base.We see incredible demand among adult collectors, also with Children.The Netflix shows are doing very well the animated series on Netflix and we are very excited about creating yet another global event, and the approach will be about infusing purpose, creating cultural relevance and currency.Our job as a company is to take brands that are timeless and make them timely.And what you saw in the Barbie movie is how we approach all of our projects.Of course, it will be different executions, different genres, different demographics.But the approach and opportunity is the same.When I saw the masters of the Universe news head, I thought, I'm really old now, like I remember watching this stuff as a kid.You never you're never old to to to enjoy these brands these brands are just incredible, and they always play out.So talk to us, uh, about Barbie.What are sales look like for that brand this year?Just from a doll perspective, given the big year you had last year, Barbie is such an incredible, incredible brand.Barbie is so much more a doll.Barbie is a pop culture icon, and the success of the movie really opened the aperture for Barbie as a brand to play, uh, across multiple categories, a broader audience and, uh, bigger demographics that that will connect with the brand.At an emotional level, Barbie has incredible and exciting activations.This year, Barbie is celebrating her 65th anniversary.We are launching three new lines for the brand.We are expanding into adult collectors.We're launching a new mobile game in partnership with Take Two Interactive later this year, and there will be more activations for the brand.And this is really not about this quarter or this year.It's about Barbie's momentum for years to come.It's such a broad canvas of opportunity and innovation and imagination with a very strong brand purpose, but also keeping the Barbie relevant current and in touch with with, uh, with culture, you have to be working on a sequel.Now.You know, we've always said that our goal is to create film franchises.It's not just about one movie but creating film franchises.And this is, uh, more broadly, not just about Barbie.This is the approach.And given the strength and appeal and broad, uh, consumer, uh, fan base that we have with our brands, this is an exciting opportunity for us to continue to broaden our offering.As you know, we've announced 15 movies in development.There's more coming.We continue to build and strengthen the creative packages of these of these projects, led by some of the most prolific creators of our time.And this is really the model to partner and amplify the creative vision of our partners.And it worked very well with Barbie, and this is the approach we are applying to the other projects.How do you keep the team?The team grounded after a year like that?You know, we always look for, uh, you know, to create the next exciting opportunity for the company.It is always about moving the ball forward.We don't see it as a as a journey that ends anywhere.There is no end to this.This is an ongoing opportunity for the company, the way we believe where we are today.This is still early, very early in our journey.It's clearly working, and the strategy is proving itself.We've demonstrated and have showcases across multiple categories, and it's not just about Barbie, and not just in movies.It's also in television, in consumer product, in merchandise in location based entertainment.We are launching the first mail park later this year, and the second one is already announced for 2026.We are expanding our digital offering mobile games, and more and more opportunities will open up in today's world.It's all about the big brands, the big brands that have a built in fan base.And our opportunity as a company is to continue to grow our toy business, our IP driven toy business, and further expand our entertainment offering.So it's not one instead of the other.It's symbiotic, and the opportunity that we can drive growing and thriving toy business would reflect back on the opportunities outside of the toy aisle and vice versa.What's your sense of how retailers are placing orders for the holidays.We're not that far away.They place what orders, what, six months, usually in advance or if not before, we believe the toy industry is in a good place.The industry as a whole is expected to decline this year, but less than last year.Part of it is driven by the lack of theatrical toy movies that the drive toy demand.But the industry is an important category for retailers.It drives food, traffic, It's experiential, the items are very affordable, and you really play into a fundamental human behaviour that is not going away.Physical play is not going away.And yet, as the owner of the underlying rights for for the toy toys that we sell, you can take those assets, those iconic brands, and extend them to other domains.And this is the This is our journey.This is our strategy to continue to grow, uh, within the toy business and expand our entertainment off.I want to leave a little time on this because we haven't really talked about this in the past times that we have talked.You spent your lot so much your career as a TV executive.What is going on with these linear networks?I'm sure you're watching the battle for for Paramount that Disney come out report earnings challenges in their in their legacy business.Can these assets be fixed?And how do you How would one go about fixing them?It is.It is a challenging time in the industry.There's a technology that that change the economic, uh, model, uh, in the short term.But over time, I believe that technology will create more opportunities, more areas of growth for content creators, for IP owners and for people to connect and engage with their favourite brands and experiences the entertainment industry.And and the competition for a share of mind is more sophisticated.There are more more distribution opportunities.There is more supply of content and other offerings, but quality content will always win.Big brands will always rise above the competition.Access and engagement to big A large fan base is critical to be successful, and I believe there are opportunities that will come out of this period.Does traditional cable survive, and in what form?You know, it's still, uh uh, the the economics of the cable model are still being worked out.Some of the channels channels, the television channels and broadcast channels or cable channels that are being disrupted have important domain and, uh, and high awareness.But it's all about how do you repurpose and how do you continue to leverage these brands in throughout the distribution opportunities and and creating a relationship with with the consumer with the with the viewer.Our approach and how we evolve as a company is to think of people who buy our product not just as consumers, but as fans.And we've talked.We've talked about it before.This has been a key part of our evolution as a company.We no longer think of ourselves as a toy manufacturer that is selling items, but as an IP company that is managing franchises.And when you think of people who buy a product as fans and in the aggregate, many fans become an audience, it's a very different conversation, and that creates more opportunities for companies like Mattel that own such important brands.We just got to feed these TV networks more Barbie.I mean, let's give them that content.Uh, Anan, that'll save them.Uh, Anan cries mittel always a pleasure to see you.Thank you so much for always making time to find