While Mattel hoped the "Barbie" movie would be successful, its level of success was almost unprecedented.

With a total of $162 million, it had the largest opening weekend at the US box office in 2023 and the largest opening weekend ever for a female director.

Mattel CEO Ynon Kriez told Variety in 2023, ahead of the movie's release, that its success could lead to numerous sequels and spinoffs.

"Barbie, as a brand, has many different iterations. The product lines of Barbie is a very broad brand. In addition to the main Barbie figure, she has family, she has a lot of elements around in her universe," Kreiz said.

Kriez added that Mattel had not started developing a sequel yet because they didn't want to jump the gun until the movie was released.

Greta Gerwig, who directed the movie, told The New York Times in 2023 that she wasn't sure about making a sequel.

"I feel like that at the end of every movie, like I'll never have another idea, and everything I've ever wanted to do, I did," Gerwig said. "I wouldn't want to squash anybody else's dream but for me, at this moment, I'm at totally zero."

A24, an independent production company and distributor, has built a reputation for making original, artistic movies. Now, it's teaming up with Mattel and Daniel Kaluuya's company, 59% Productions, to produce a film about the friendly purple dinosaur Barney.

Kaluuya, known for roles in "Black Panther," "Get Out," and "Widows," was first attached to the "Barney" movie in 2019 when it was reported he would produce the project through his company, 59% Productions.

In 2023, Kevin McKeon of Mattel Films told The New Yorker the movie would be "surrealistic" and an "A24-type" film before A24 was confirmed to be involved.

On Tuesday, a representative for A24 told Business Insider that the production company was involved in the project. Ayo Edebiri, who will star in the upcoming A24 release "Opus," will write the screenplay for "Barney" and is in talks to star, the rep said.

The first attempt at a "Masters of the Universe" live-action movie, based on the He-Man toys, animated series, and comics, was released in 1987. It was a critical and commercial failure at the time and only gained a cult fandom much later.

In the years since, successful animated series and movies based on the franchise have been produced, and Mattel is trying again to make a new live-action movie.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Kreiz said he believes the film could spawn a franchise "as big as Marvel and DC."

This is the only movie on Mattel's slate that is in production, and is due to premiere on June 5, 2026.

The movie, co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios and directed by Travis Knight, follows Prince Adam, who is stuck living on Earth until he finds a magical sword that whisks him back to his home planet, Eternia. When he returns home, he must protect Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor.

The full main cast includes Nicholas Galitzine as He-man, Camila Mendes as Teela, Jared Leto as Skeletor, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, and Idris Elba as Duncan.

In January 2023, Variety reported that Mattel Films was making a film about "Bob The Builder," the kids cartoon about a construction worker and his living, anthropomorphic vehicles.

Variety said Jennifer Lopez will produce the film, and Anthony Ramos will voice the lead character. In the movie, Bob travels to Puerto Rico for a major construction job and learns more about the culture there.

Felipe Vargas, an up-and-coming writer-director, will write the script for the movie.

Ramos told Variety that elements of the film were inspired by his own life: "For years, Bob the Builder's characters have inspired young people around the world."

Another live-action movie first announced in 2019 is "Major Matt Mason," based on the 1960s astronaut action figure of the same name.

Variety reported that Mattel is partnering with Paramount Pictures to bring the story to life with Tom Hanks playing the lead role.

Ironically, according to the New Yorker, Major Matt Mason was the inspiration for Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story," in which Hanks also starred as the voice of the spaceman's cowboy friend, Woody.

Variety reported that the script will be written by Akiva Goldsman and Michael Chabon.

Goldsman is also working on another project for Mattel — the live-action Monster High movie.

The doll brand, which imagines folklore monsters like werewolves and mummies as teen girls, has already been adapted into multiple animated specials, a web series, and movies for the small screen.

In June 2021, Variety reported that Mattel has partnered with Universal Pictures and Goldsman company, Weed Road, to develop the first theatrical film.

In 2021, Deadline reported that Lena Dunham planned to write and direct a movie about the micro-doll line, Polly Pocket.

Lily Collins was set to star and produce, and Mattel and MGM were teaming up to create the movie.

Brenner told Variety in 2023 that the script for the family comedy has been completed.

But in July 2024, Lena Dunham told The New Yorker that she had pulled out of making the film after the success of "Barbie."

There have been no updates since Dunham's interview about the "Polly Pocket" movie, so it is unclear if it is still in development.

You read that right. In 2021, Variety reported that Mattel is developing an action-heist comedy about the card game Uno with rapper Lil Yachty being eyed for the lead role.

The script for the movie was written by Marcy Kelly.

Kelly told The New Yorker she was asked to pitch Mattel a script based on the card game and wrote a heist movie set in Atlanta's hip-hop scene.

"The first draft that I sent in was 'fuck'-heavy," Kelly said, explaining that each swear word was flagged by an executive. "And then the next draft had one. I got my one, well-placed, PG-13 'fuck.'"

Not all of Mattel's movies will be about their toys.

In 2021, Deadline reported that Mattel is developing its own live-action holiday movie, "Christmas Balloon."

The family drama, based on a true story, follows a young girl living in a Mexican border town who tries to send a Christmas list to Santa via a balloon but instead, the list is found by a couple in Arizona grieving the loss of their child.

Gabriela Revilla Lugo, who produced "Palm Springs," is writing the script, according to Deadline.

In 2022, Mattel announced that it would team up with J.J. Abrams' production company, Bad Robot, to produce a Hot Wheels movie.

Variety first reported in January 2022 that a movie based on the toy car brand is at the script stage, but the film was initially announced in April. Deadline reported in April 2022 that the film will be made through a partnership between Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Abrams said the franchise will be "emotional and grounded and gritty."

Brenner told Variety the movie will have "real characters that you can relate to, that are three-dimensional, that have emotional journeys."

She added: "Look at any J.J. Abrams movie. All of his movies have an incredible story and incredible characters. That was something that was important to him — to make a movie that's not just going to be fun and exciting, but that has real emotion and real stakes to it."

Marc Forster, who directed "World War Z" and "Quantum of Solace," is making a film about Thomas the Tank Engine.

Deadline reported in 2020 that Mattel Films is teaming up with Forster's production company 2Dux² to turn the children's cartoon into a movie that is a mix of live-action and animation. 

Forster has turned a children's franchise into a feature film before, having directed the 2018 movie "Christopher Robin," which is about the legacy of Winnie the Pooh.

Mattel has been trying to create a Magic 8 Ball movie for almost 20 years.

The Guardian reported that, in 2006, Universal tried to make a Magic 8 Ball rom-com, and later Paramount tried to make a "National Treasure"-style movie about the fortune-telling ball.

Neither project came to fruition but Mattel is trying to create a horror movie instead.

Deadline first reported in 2019 that Mattel was partnering with Blumhouse to create the horror movie. However, in 2022, CNBC reported that Blumhouse is no longer attached to the project.

The New Yorker reported that "Cocaine Bear" screenwriter Jimmy Warden is turning the movie into a horror-comedy.

Mattel's Robbie Brenner told the publication: "We're not going to make any rated-R movie. We're not going to make anything that feels violent, or that is alienating to families. We want to stay within the parameters of what Mattel is."

Brenner later told Variety that the movie will "probably be a PG-13 thriller."

"Fast & Furious" star Vin Diesel has been pegged to star in and produce a movie based on the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.

In 2021, Deadline first reported that Mattel Films, Universal, and Diesel are creating the live-action movie. The publication reports that "Rampage" writer Ryan Engle will write the script, and the story will follow a father and son who bond with an advanced war machine.

Brenner told Variety that they are still working on a script, but that Diesel was excited about the project.

"Saturday Night Live" may have joked about an American Doll movie in 2023 but there are actual plans to turn the doll brand into a live-action movie.

Deadline first reported that a movie from Mattel and MGM was in the works in 2019. At the time, neither a director nor a writer was attached.

In an update, per a recent New Yorker article, Mattel's Kevin McKeon said that a screenwriter is writing a script that would be like "Booksmart" meets "Bill & Ted."

Brenner later told Variety the movie is a family comedy.

American Girls are 18-inch dolls that depict various young girls across history.

Mattel is not restricting itself to its most famous toys, because the company is also bringing back toys from the last century. One of which is the muscly action figure, Big Jim, which was created in the 1970s.

In 2022, Variety reported that a film based on the toy will be developed by Dan Mazer, who wrote "Bridget Jones's Baby," cowrote both "Borat" films, and directed the latest "Home Alone" reboot.

Variety also reported in 2022 that Jason Bateman's production company, Aggregate Films, is making a movie based on Mattel's Chatty Cathy and Betsy Wetsy dolls.

Chatty Cathy was a pull-string doll created by the inventors of Barbie, Ruth and Elliot Handler, in 1959. According to Time magazine, the dolls could speak 11 phrases, and brunette and African-American versions were created a few years later.

Meanwhile, Betsy Wetsy was another doll brand created by Ideal Toy Company, which later became part of Mattel through multiple acquisitions. This one, created in 1934, was a baby doll that you could feed and had to change after it urinated.

No further details have been provided for the plot of the film.

The New Yorker reported that Mattel is working with Skydance to create a movie based on toy car brand Matchbox.

MGM and Mattel are teaming up to produce a live-action movie about the View-Master, The Hollywood Reporter reported in 2019.

View-Masters were a 20th-century gadget that offered 3D images.

In 2020, Deadline reported that Mattel and Universal Pictures are rebooting "Wishbone." 

The upcoming movie is based on a '90s PBS TV series about an ordinary Jack Russell Terrier who dreams about being the protagonist in famous books.

Deadline reported that Roy Parker will write the script with two-time Oscar-winner Peter Farrelly producing.

The New Yorker reported that Mattel is turning the gruesome toy hand puppets known as Boglins into a new movie, and there are already numerous "millennial" directors and screenwriters who want to work on it.

Mattel's Kevin McKeon said he thinks the Boglins could be the star of the company's "big Halloween movie."

"We're thinking 'Gremlins'-ish, but with a twist," McKeon said.