After 'Barbie' success, Mattel looks to He-Man for another box-office lift

Three years ago, Mattel Inc. struck box-office golden — oregon rather, pinkish — with the billion-dollar occurrence of “Barbie.”

In its archetypal instrumentality to theaters since the female-forward phenomenon, the El Segundo toymaker is turning to the brawny He-Man for different box-office lift.

Its latest film, “Masters of the Universe,” opens this weekend, arsenic Mattel looks to physique connected that erstwhile occurrence and proceed extending its signature artifact brands into the amusement arena.

“The movie is precise overmuch successful tune with culture,” said Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz. “Everything is overmuch much modern comparative to what was created much than 40 years ago, but it’s inactive precise existent to the root communicative and to the DNA of the brand.”

The caller movie arrives astatine a pivotal clip for Mattel, which is facing unit from investors to turn its business. The shaper of Hot Wheels, American Girl and Uno has precocious confronted a challenging marketplace for toys, beset by tariffs connected goods produced overseas and weaker-than-expected request for Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price preschool products.

Amid uncertainty successful the artifact marketplace and the fallout from tariffs, Mattel’s nett income dropped 25% to $398 cardinal successful 2025. And since the institution announced disappointing vacation income totals successful February, its banal has dropped much than 30%, closing astatine $14.34 connected Wednesday.

“Masters of the Universe” toys astatine Mattel office successful El Segundo.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The stock terms descent prompted capitalist Southeastern Asset Management to nonstop a missive past period to Mattel enactment suggesting the artifact shaper should merchantability itself and spell private. Southeastern manages astir 4% of the company’s banal connected behalf of its clients.

“The vexation among investors has been the information that if you look astatine the concern from 2021 done 2025 and adjacent this twelvemonth ... the concern truly hasn’t grown,” said Eric Handler, a Roth Capital elder media and amusement analyst, referring to Mattel. “This is simply a institution that needed thing caller successful the portfolio, and there’s a wide scope of investments being made, of which ‘Masters of the Universe’ is 1 part.”

Kreiz pushed backmost connected the thought that the institution is not growing. In the 4th fourth of 2025, nett income were up 7% to $1.8 billion, though the effect was not arsenic beardown arsenic the institution expected.

Mattel has spent $1.2 cardinal successful the past 3 years to bargain backmost shares, with an further $1.5-billion stock repurchase planned for the adjacent 3 years.

“We’re investing successful our ain banal due to the fact that we judge it is undervalued,” helium told The Times successful an interrogation astatine his office, which has floor-to-ceiling windows that springiness an expansive presumption of El Segundo. “We perfectly hold that the stock terms doesn’t bespeak the advancement that we’ve achieved implicit the past fewer years financially, operationally, our spot successful culture, the spot of our brands, and the continued enlargement of the business. And much importantly, the imaginable that we person down the road.”

“Masters of the Universe” is simply a cardinal adaptable successful that equation.

Ynon Kreiz, main enforcement of Mattel.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The movie, which had a fund of astir $170 million, is expected to bring successful $25 cardinal to $35 cardinal successful the U.S. and Canada during its debut weekend. That’s a acold outcry from the $162-million opening haul of “Barbie,” but box-office analysts accidental that movie captured the taste zeitgeist successful a mode that’s hard to replicate.

The ‘80s-era “Masters of the Universe” is “a spot that was celebrated with a definite radical of fans, but it hasn’t had overmuch of a popular civilization presence,” said Shawn Robbins, who directs movie analytics astatine Fandango and founded the forecasting tract Box Office Theory. The movie has notched a respectable 74% support standing from critics connected aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

“There’s been truthful galore callbacks to nostalgic franchises,” helium said. “Some radical are ever connected committee for them, and possibly the affirmative reviews bring radical successful who were connected the fence. But radical are besides acceptable for thing caller and caller and exciting.”

Kreiz said he’s often asked however the institution volition lucifer the occurrence of “Barbie.”

“The reply is, we don’t request to lucifer ‘Barbie’s’ occurrence for movies to person a meaningful economical interaction connected the company,” helium said. “Not each movie volition beryllium ‘Barbie.’ If we make prime contented that radical privation to ticker and make prime experiences that radical are engaged with, bully things happen, and these brands volition resonate and volition beryllium present for years to come.”

While theatrical gross is important, the measurement of occurrence for “Masters of the Universe” could besides see its eventual reception connected streaming platforms and, of course, artifact sales, analysts said.

There are hundreds of products tied to the movie, from collectible enactment figures of Nicholas Galitzine’s He-Man and Camila Mendes’ Teela, to branded Uno decks, Legos, covering and skateboards.

Skeletor from “Masters of the Universe.”

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“For us, it’s a immense triumph already,” said Robbie Brenner, president of Mattel Studios and main contented officer, who besides served arsenic a shaper connected the film. “We person reinvigorated and relaunched this marque that has been astir for decades ... and done it successful a mode with conscionable the best-in-class toys. Obviously that’s our breadstuff and butter. And past to person made an epic, unthinkable movie ... is simply a immense win.”

While Mattel does not yet person income totals for its “Masters of the Universe” toys, executives said during an net telephone successful precocious April that merchandise income were “growing treble digits” amid beardown lawsuit demand, peculiarly from adults.

When Kreiz was named CEO successful 2018, helium saw the imaginable for Mattel to grow beyond toys. In an amusement scenery dominated by known franchises and intelligence property, the erstwhile TV and media enforcement wanted to leverage the company’s IP successful caller ways to pull consumers.

Hence, Mattel has expanded into real-world experiences specified arsenic a Barbie pop-up astatine Coachella oregon a traveling Hot Wheels monster motortruck show. In February, the institution afloat acquired Mattel163 mobile crippled workplace aft buying retired a involvement held by Chinese tech steadfast NetEase. The workplace has released games based connected Uno, Skip-Bo and different Mattel intelligence property.

And connected the movie and tv front, the Mattel Studios part present has 51 radical — astir of whom are based successful El Segundo — focused connected projects crossed platforms.

After “Masters of the Universe,” Mattel Studios plans to merchandise a “Matchbox” streaming movie successful October. The part has much than a twelve films successful improvement that person been announced, including an American Girl movie with Paramount, Polly Pocket with Amazon MGM Studios, arsenic good arsenic a live-action Magic 8 Ball bid from M. Night Shyamalan.

“The travel for the institution was to germinate from being a artifact shaper that was making items to go an IP institution that is managing franchises,” Kreiz said. “It’s not that we’re not creating toys — it’s evidently a large portion of our concern — but the accidental is to grow truthful overmuch much than the carnal product.”

“Masters of the Universe” was successful improvement for years astatine respective antithetic studios earlier it was picked up by Amazon MGM.

That concern stemmed from Mattel’s enactment connected the “Barbie” movie with Courtenay Valenti, past president of accumulation and improvement astatine Warner Bros. Pictures who is present caput of movie astatine Amazon MGM.

“Masters of the Universe” felt similar a bully spot for Mattel to stake connected due to the fact that of its nostalgia origin and heavy seat of colorful characters, from the greenish tiger Battle Cat to the heavy armored Ram Man and ever meme-able Skeletor, which the institution hopes volition pull caller audiences, Brenner said.

The movie is directed by Travis Knight — main enforcement of stop-motion workplace Laika who besides led the 2018 “Transformers” spin-off “Bumblebee” — who Brenner said “nailed” the narrative’s tone. (It didn’t wounded that Knight was already a instrumentality of the franchise and had sported the He-Man haircut arsenic a child.)

“It’s a spot that’s benignant of retired there,” said Brenner, who grew up watching He-Man and his duplicate sister She-Ra. “It’s got each these brainsick characters. But conscionable riding that enactment betwixt what is comic and benignant of irreverent and past benignant of heartfelt, that is simply a precise hard happening to enactment successful a blender and to get right.”