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Mattel Launches New Theatrical Film Division


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Mattel, Inc. announced the creation of Mattel Films, a new division of the Company focused on developing and producing motion pictures based on the Company's iconic and globally-recognized franchises. Academy Award-nominated producer Robbie Brenner has been appointed to lead Mattel Films as Executive Producer, reporting to Ynon Kreiz, Mattel's Chairman and CEO.

Robbie Brenner will oversee Mattel Films, developing motion pictures based on Mattel’s iconic franchises.

Mattel is free to develop studio options on such properties as Hot Wheels, American Girl, Fisher-Price and Thomas & Friends itself. Mattel Films then plans to find studio partners to produce the movies.  Mattel and Sony had been developing a live-action Barbie movie, set to star Anne Hathaway, for 2020 release, but according to Mattel, that option has lapsed and that project is not moving forward.

"Mattel is home to one of the world's greatest portfolios of beloved franchises, and the creation of Mattel Films will allow us to unlock significant value across our IP," said Mr. Kreiz. "Robbie is a gifted storyteller and a highly respected filmmaker with deep relationships in entertainment. She is the perfect leader to bring our celebrated brands to life."  

"Generations of children around the world have grown up with deep emotional connections to Mattel's brands and characters," said Ms. Brenner. "There are so many stories to be told and so many imaginations to be captured by these iconic brands, and I look forward to working with Ynon and his team to do so."

Ms. Brenner was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for Dallas Buyers Club, and her film Burden was a 2018 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner. She has held multiple leadership roles in the entertainment industry for the last two decades, including Partner and President of the film division at The Firm, as well as President of Production at Relativity Media. Ms. Brenner also ran the classics division at Davis Entertainment, and prior to this, she held Senior Vice President roles at both Twentieth Century Fox and Miramax.

Ms. Brenner oversaw the production of dozens of movies, including Academy Award-winning The Fighter; the Snow White Adaptation Mirror Mirror, starring Julia Roberts; the 3-D epic, Immortals; the highly successful Nicholas Sparks book adaptions Dear John and Safe Haven. Ms. Brenner was also pivotal in the acquisition of the Sundance documentary Catfish, which became a cultural sensation, as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, Don Jon.

In 2015, in recognition of her pioneering work, Ms. Brenner was invited to join the executive branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Additional Sources: THR

Robbie-Brenner.jpg

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On 9/8/2018 at 4:11 AM, lordtom said:

Hotwheels the movie I can see it now. I mean do they even own the right to Masters of the universe? Dreamworks is doing Shebutch-Ra so let's see what they do. 

Apparently they do own the rights still but made some kind of deal with Super 7 for the Classics and Reaction lines.

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20 minutes ago, lordtom said:

Oh so they HAVE to do a He-man film. Anything else won't get the same reaction!

That is probably the only movie worth making.

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On 9/23/2018 at 10:07 AM, NeedlessImmortals said:

That is probably the only movie worth making.

What about Thundercats?  Come on man. 

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10 hours ago, FASVB said:

What about Thundercats?  Come on man. 

lol I like Thundercats but I think that movie would be a lot harder to make. I mean has there even been a live action male cat person that has looked good? lol The studios would have to come up with a version that looks cool and that the majority of fans will accept. I think they shouldn't lean too hard on them looking like cats, maybe do something similar to how Alita looks with the whole eye thing and just give them short furry skin but also the hair in that show is ridiculous lol 

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7 hours ago, NeedlessImmortals said:

lol I like Thundercats but I think that movie would be a lot harder to make. I mean has there even been a live action male cat person that has looked good? lol The studios would have to come up with a version that looks cool and that the majority of fans will accept. I think they shouldn't lean too hard on them looking like cats, maybe do something similar to how Alita looks with the whole eye thing and just give them short furry skin but also the hair in that show is ridiculous lol 

Like HE-Man, the cartoon is from the 80's. The glam era. The thing is that giving the quality of special effects and make up today, it would not be  very expensive to make this. Think about the CGI and other effects from like ten years ago, and think of them now. The ten years ago stuff can be done in your home basically. 

If not a movie, they could pull off a lie action TV show in Netflix with 10 episodes per season.  If the cast is not very known, it would cost even less. Think about it.

 

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3 hours ago, FASVB said:

Like HE-Man, the cartoon is from the 80's. The glam era. The thing is that giving the quality of special effects and make up today, it would not be  very expensive to make this. Think about the CGI and other effects from like ten years ago, and think of them now. The ten years ago stuff can be done in your home basically. 

If not a movie, they could pull off a lie action TV show in Netflix with 10 episodes per season.  If the cast is not very known, it would cost even less. Think about it.

 

Well Netflix can do just about anything, they are rolling in cash lol Still they would need to revamp the story to be more accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the story. Either that or go the new Planet of the Apes route and make something that's kind of like the old show but also not at all and do something weird with the designs.. I don't know lol  Honestly I'd rather just get some sort of action adventure comedy with the Thundercats that doesn't take itself too seriously... Directed by Sam Raimi, Zac Efron as Lion-O, Collette Wolfe as Cheetara, Idris Elba as Panthro, Patrick Wilson as Tygra, 2 Disney channel brats for Kit and Kat, CGI Snarf or make him a puppet idc, and Willem Dafoe as Mumm-Ra.

And why Collette Wolfe? Because I watched Hot Tub Time Machine recently and I've always seen Cheetara as a snarky #$## so I think it would be funny and I want to see someone who doesn't do action movies already as her.

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6 minutes ago, NeedlessImmortals said:

Well Netflix can do just about anything, they are rolling in cash lol Still they would need to revamp the story to be more accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the story. Either that or go the new Planet of the Apes route and make something that's kind of like the old show but also not at all and do something weird with the designs.. I don't know lol  Honestly I'd rather just get some sort of action adventure comedy with the Thundercats that doesn't take itself too seriously... Directed by Sam Raimi, Zac Efron as Lion-O, Collette Wolfe as Cheetara, Idris Elba as Panthro, Patrick Wilson as Tygra, 2 Disney channel brats for Kit and Kat, CGI Snarf or make him a puppet idc, and Willem Dafoe as Mumm-Ra.

And why Collette Wolfe? Because I watched Hot Tub Time Machine recently and I've always seen Cheetara as a snarky #$## so I think it would be funny and I want to see someone who doesn't do action movies already as her.

Come on. Now you are being disrespectful to the franchise.  Thundercats can be a "serious" movie. Ok Idris Elba as Panthro would be cool, but he is pretty big, so The Rock would be probably better. 

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1 minute ago, FASVB said:

Come on. Now you are being disrespectful to the franchise.  Thundercats can be a "serious" movie. Ok Idris Elba as Panthro would be cool, but he is pretty big, so The Rock would be probably better. 

I mean and action adventure comedy along the lines of say.. The Mummy, I don't really want to see a serious Thundercats movie if I'm being honest. For the Rock, I thought that but then it might turn into a Baywatch situation lol But really I didn't put that much thought into those choices.

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Is a Thundercats movie REALLY something we want to see? Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome cartoon, and I wish they still made them that way (or even knew how), but do we really wanna see Hollywood take a crack at it?

I keep going back to movies like Jem and the Holograms, G.I. Joe, Josie and the Pussycats, and even The Last Air Bender. It seems like the first thing they do when they decide to adapt one of these toons is try and make it as different from the source material as possible.

I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon they left it alone.

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4 hours ago, mako said:

Is a Thundercats movie REALLY something we want to see? Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome cartoon, and I wish they still made them that way (or even knew how), but do we really wanna see Hollywood take a crack at it?

I keep going back to movies like Jem and the Holograms, G.I. Joe, Josie and the Pussycats, and even The Last Air Bender. It seems like the first thing they do when they decide to adapt one of these toons is try and make it as different from the source material as possible.

I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon they left it alone.

Yeah. I don't want to see some crappy version of a beloved cartoon, but at the same time I would like to see at least an attempt to a good adaptation.  Some things have worked well for comics and some videogames, maybe is worth a shot. 

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Masters of the Universe and Thundercats are definitely two properties I would be down for seeing movies made for... And that doesn’t automatically mean that they have to be live action, necessarily. But, with that being said, apart from those two properties, the fact that they felt they had to go and make themselves a studio? That kind of has me scratching my head.

It feels like those ‘Monopoly: The Movie’ and ‘Battleship’ announcements, all over again.

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11 hours ago, mako said:

Is a Thundercats movie REALLY something we want to see? Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome cartoon, and I wish they still made them that way (or even knew how), but do we really wanna see Hollywood take a crack at it?

I keep going back to movies like Jem and the Holograms, G.I. Joe, Josie and the Pussycats, and even The Last Air Bender. It seems like the first thing they do when they decide to adapt one of these toons is try and make it as different from the source material as possible.

I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon they left it alone.

I'd much rather see a Masters of the Universe movie, I think thats actually doable and can be either serious or campy and still be good. I feel like the best Thundercats movie will still end up looking like Warcraft and just feel off. 

Jem was crap, I have a soft spot for G.I. Joe and the 2nd is better aside from killing Duke and Bruce Willis phoning it in, Don't a lot of people like Josie? And I have conflicting thoughts on The Last Airbender, I personally think it looks great and what they did put in it is incredibly accurate to the cartoon even though a lot of the story was cut out but the execution and acting was garbage, there was no humor at all, and the element bending was lame. I can deal with the whole race thing but I do think they got the wrong actors for everyone except maybe Aang.

 

2 hours ago, sXeblues said:

Masters of the Universe and Thundercats are definitely two properties I would be down for seeing movies made for... And that doesn’t automatically mean that they have to be live action, necessarily. But, with that being said, apart from those two properties, the fact that they felt they had to go and make themselves a studio? That kind of has me scratching my head.

It feels like those ‘Monopoly: The Movie’ and ‘Battleship’ announcements, all over again.

I... uh.. don't hate Battleship... ? Its a dumb movie but I like how stupid it is lol

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4 hours ago, sXeblues said:

But, with that being said, apart from those two properties, the fact that they felt they had to go and make themselves a studio? That kind of has me scratching my head.

Why not? Marvel did it, Hasbro did it, even WWE did it. Although I think the real reason some of these companies are forming their own "studios" is more finance than movie making. It's like installing a swimming pool in your backyard. Do you need one? No, but it's a great way to raise that property value.

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13 hours ago, NeedlessImmortals said:

I... uh.. don't hate Battleship... ? Its a dumb movie but I like how stupid it is lol

HAHA — no worries... I’m one of the rare few that actually digs the second Mortal Kombat movie. Even if not nearly as much as the first one. So, I know fandom incredulity only too well. ?

12 hours ago, mako said:

Why not? Marvel did it, Hasbro did it, even WWE did it. Although I think the real reason some of these companies are forming their own "studios" is more finance than movie making. It's like installing a swimming pool in your backyard. Do you need one? No, but it's a great way to raise that property value.

I think it’s because those other companies have done it, and thus far, I think Marvel’s the only one who seems to actually appreciate their catalog, while also knowing how to utilize it. I’m not so sure on all of the other ones.

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25 minutes ago, sXeblues said:

HAHA — no worries... I’m one of the rare few that actually digs the second Mortal Kombat movie. Even if not nearly as much as the first one. So, I know fandom incredulity only too well. ?

I loved Annihilation! Plus, I'll do you one better. I liked Double Dragon too! ... and Mario Brothers.

What can I say? Sitting in a big dark room with a thing of popcorn, a box of Raisenettes and a big-a$$ coke is three quarters of the draw of any movie. If said movie is at least good enough for me to be able to say "Well that was a pleasant escape for a couple of hours." as I leave, then mission accomplished. Forget what the critics, bean-counters or anybody else says.

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Now If they could just do a good live action Masters movie, that would be great.  Like others have stated if they could just stay true to the source material and not try to change so much stuff, and add groups of all new characters Then I feel it could have a chance.  With all the tech we have today compared to years past I don't see why it couldn't be awesome.  Same could be said for a Thundercats movie too, if it was done the right way.

Going back to MOTU its no reason it couldn't be a trilogy as well.  You've got Skeletor, Hordak, and King Hssss.  Add She-ra and you could make a 4th movie too.  So many great Ideas, it could be epic.  If it was just done right...

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33 minutes ago, mako said:

I loved Annihilation! Plus, I'll do you one better. I liked Double Dragon too! ... and Mario Brothers.

What can I say? Sitting in a big dark room with a thing of popcorn, a box of Raisenettes and a big-a$$ coke is three quarters of the draw of any movie. If said movie is at least good enough for me to be able to say "Well that was a pleasant escape for a couple of hours." as I leave, then mission accomplished. Forget what the critics, bean-counters or anybody else says.

Very much agreed... I remember harboring a level of self consciousness back in my teens for the things I liked, which were seen as geeky or nerdy, in the derogatory. But, I kind of had a wakeup call after my dad had passed away, that life is short, and you never know how long you’ve actually got. So, it would be a lot better of an experience to dig whatever you dig, without letting yourself worry about what others think. And that’s pretty much how I’ve been, ever since.

I missed out on Double Dragon, when it came out. But I was there for Super Mario Bros — and I remember being ecstatic that a game I loved growing up was going to be ‘made real’, in a sense, being that it was live action. Which, following on the success of Tim Burton’s Batman, blew my mind.

It also helped that Bob Hoskins was in it, after having been wowed by Who Framed Roger Rabbit — to my early teenage mind, this was gonna be the greatest thing since, whatever the last greatest thing ever was, lol.

I still hold a soft spot for it, to this day. Though, the MK flicks sit a bit above it.

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Yanno, I decided to re-watch both G.I. Joe movies today, they really aren't that bad. They utilize so many things the toys had its almost crazy to see some of this stuff in an actual movie.

Gonna watch the old Masters of the Universe once Retaliation is over lol

Btw put me on the list for being a fan of Annihilation, Double Dragon, and Mario Brothers, I had all the movie based games as well ? 

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