FROM TOYMAKER TO ENTERTAINMENT PLAYER<\/p>\n
Facing declining retail sales, the Barbie and Hot Wheels maker is repositioning itself as a global entertainment player, giving new life to its intellectual properties through Hollywood partnerships.<\/p>\n
With more than 14 films in the pipeline, Mattel hopes to repeat the success of 2023 blockbuster Barbie with a live-action version of Masters Of The Universe in June and will release a new He-Man toy line soon to build buzz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While no announcement has yet been made, industry publication Deadline reported that a KPop Demon Hunters sequel is in the works for a possible 2029 release.<\/p>\n
“We have ambitious plans for the franchise, but I’m not able to share them yet,” Filippo Zuffada, senior director of consumer products at Netflix, told Reuters. “Merchandise is essential to extend the life of an IP like this.”<\/p>\n
Netflix, which was already offering KPop Demon Hunters apparel, accessories and collectibles through its online shop, announced a licencing partnerships with Mattel as well as Hasbro in October.<\/p>\n
Mattel’s Stanichi said the process of developing a product from an idea to commercial launch typically takes around 18 months, and, for the KPop Demon Hunters line, it worked with Netflix to speed that up without sacrificing details.<\/p>\n
SINGING DOLLS, POLLY POCKETS PLANNED<\/p>\n
The dolls inspired by Rumi, Zoey and Mira \u2013 the film’s girl band members by day, demon hunters by night \u2013 will initially be available with two looks, including dolls who sing their Billboard No 1 hit Golden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Huntr\/x stars along with frenemy boy band Saja Boys members and other characters will be released across Mattel’s Polly Pocket, UNO and Little People Collector brands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dolls will sell for around US$40 (S$50.50) to US$45, while Polly Pocket tiny capsules, featuring the girl band’s favourite ramen cups, will retail for about US$8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some products will not be available until autumn.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FROM TOYMAKER TO ENTERTAINMENT PLAYER Facing declining retail sales, the Barbie and Hot Wheels maker is repositioning itself…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[106019,93,61,60,278,1868],"class_list":{"0":"post-269703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-dolls","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-netflix"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}