Premier toymakers Hasbro and Mattel have signed multi-year licensing agreements to produce co-branded toys and games for their summer blockbuster films.
Hasbro will produce Barbie-branded Monopoly games for release in the autumn of 2023, while Mattel will produce Transformers-branded UNO games for release later this year, as the toy companies increase their Hollywood ambitions. And Hot Wheels vehicles bearing the Transformers logo will début in early 2024.
Hasbro’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will be released in theaters by Paramount on June 9, 2023, and Mattel’s Barbie will be released by Warner Bros. on July 21, 2023, so the toymakers are forming a partnership against the backdrop of these summer’s major theatrical releases.
Toy producers will make co-branded toys and activities for the two main goods.
“We are thrilled to bring together for the first time some of the most renowned brands. This collaboration showcases world-class intellectual property, celebrates the timeless appeal of these brands, and creates unique play opportunities for fans, according to Mattel’s senior vice president of entertainment partnerships, Nick Karamanos.
In the live-action Barbie film, Margot Robbie will portray Mattel’s iconic fashion model. And Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the seventh installment of the Paramount Pictures franchise inspired by the 1990s animated series Beast Wars, will feature robots that transform into animal-like forms rather than automobiles.
As they pursue product-to-movie pipelines for their iconic toy brands, Mattel and Hasbro will rely on summer box office success to increase merchandise and licensing sales. Their collaborative licensing agreements come as the toy industry as a whole attempts to recover from obstacles such as pandemic quarantines and supply-chain issues for Chinese-made products.
Casey Collins, president of global licensed consumer products and business development, said in his own statement, “With the major theatrical releases of the Transformers and Barbie movies in summer 2023, we’re excited to bring brand-new play experiences to fans, families, and movie and toy lovers around the world.”
Barbie, Hot Wheels, UNO, and Monopoly are top-selling trademarks for the toy manufacturers in the doll, vehicle, and board game categories, among other ancillary business streams.