Hasbro Seeks to Take Down ‘Barbie’ with New Toy Film

in Entertainment, Movies

hasbro-vs-mattel

Credit: ITM

The toy company battle for intellectual property (IP) supremacy has begun. Barbie has been a monumental triumph for Mattel as it has grossed over $900 million at the box office in just two weeks. This success prompted the company to reveal they intend to have a Mattel Cinematic Universe. Now, Hasbro has made its next move with the announcement of another adaptation from one of their most popular products to monopolize the market once again.

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Credit: Hasbro

Hasbro used to be the king of cinematic toy adaptations. Their reign commenced with the juggernaut franchise of Transformers in 2007. The movie sparked six sequels and one spin-off that grossed $5.2 billion overall. Hasbro has also had moderate success with G.I. Joe (2009) with three movies and a fourth in development. The company has funded other IP theatrical adaptations such as Battleship (2012) and Power Rangers (2017), but neither they or G.I. Joe have reached the financial success of Transformers.

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Credit: Inside The Magic

Unfortunately, Hasbro has had to restructure their methodology as their cash cow Transformers has been raking in less and less money with each sequel since The Last Knight (2017). Their last film, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, made the least amount of any of its predecessors with $413 million. This must have been surprising for Hasbro/Paramount Pictures has the movie received positive reviews compared to previous films. They even set up a Hasbro Cinematic Crossover with the G.I. Joe franchise and a spin-off with the Maximals (aka Beast Wars).

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Credit: Hasbro

Mattel’s rival has other properties in the movie pipeline, but now they pivoted from toys with the official announcement to adapt the classic board game, Monopoly. The development of this project has switched hands several times over the years with Kevin Hart and Tim Story (Barber Shop, Fantastic Four) and even Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) attached at one point. Lionsgate Entertainment will acquire the rights to the game, but have yet to divulge a director, cast, a premise or even a release date.

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Credit: Hasbro

This is a daring choice considering not many board game adaptations have churned out prosperous results. Only two have managed any success. The original Clue (1985) was a critically-acclaimed box-office flop, but it garnered a cult following over the years. While the second has been the only financially viable reimagining with the Jumanji franchise. Moviegoers will certainly be curious on how Lionsgate/Hasbro plan to adapt the 88-year-old game board about unbridled Capitalism.

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Credit: The Williams, via YouTube

Are you excited for the Monopoly movie? Which other board games should Hasbro adapt into films?

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