What does Mattel know about the movie business? More than you might think. Toy companies are so intertwined with the Hollywood creative process these days that studios often bring in big names like Mattel for feedback early in the development process of big blockbuster films. Why? Because toy makers and film makers are a match made in marketing heaven. Studios get access via manufacturers like Mattel, to the prime audience for some of their big blockbusters, ie. kids. And toy companies get to tap into beloved big screen characters. With the explosion in comic and video game screen adaptations, the partnerships have become so close between the two industries that toy execs, like Doug Wadleigh, senior vice president of franchise development at Mattel, has access and input into the film industry’s biggest upcoming projects, up to 18 months before they hit the big screen.
From Hasbro to Mattel and Jax, toy manufacturers spend millions bidding on the hottest upcoming movie brands, hoping to nab the next must-have action figure or huggable plush. Toy shelves are already stocked with products for upcoming titles like Cars 2, Transformers 3 and a box office rookie, The Green Lantern, which opened last week. Based on the long-established comic by DC, the Warner Bros. film stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, and if the studio and Mattel get their wish, children will not only beg to line up at the theater, they’ll plead for Lantern action figures and other products Mattel has spent more than year designing.
