When Ynon Kreiz arrived at Mattel in April 2018, the newly put in chief government had one mantra when it got here to a function movie starring Barbie, a mission he actually wished to get off the bottom: He didn’t care if the film offered a single extra doll.
But “Barbie” the movie needed to be good and a cultural occasion. It needed to be totally different. It needed to break molds.
And if that meant turning the chief government of Mattel — i.e., himself — into the item of comedian ridicule within the portrayal of the chief government character within the movie (“vain and foolish to the nth degree,” as The Guardian put it), then so be it.
That method has paid off to a level that even Mr. Kreiz might hardly have believed doable. “Barbie” is near grossing $1.4 billion and handed one of many “Harry Potter” motion pictures because the top-grossing Warner Bros. movie of all time. It might find yourself close to the $2 billion mark. (The record-holder is 2009’s “Avatar,” at $2.9 billion.)
How Mattel pulled off a feat that had eluded the corporate for years was the topic of current interviews with Mr. Kreiz; Robbie Brenner, Mattel’s government producer of movies; spokespeople for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig, the movie’s star and its writer-director; and others conversant in the doll’s generally tortuous path to the large display screen.
Mattel and Warner have jealously guarded their monetary preparations. But folks with information of their settlement mentioned Mattel earned 5 % of the field workplace income, in addition to a proportion of eventual income as a producer of the film and extra funds as proprietor of the Barbie mental property rights. At $2 billion in field workplace income, that quantities to $100 million. In addition, there are gross sales of merchandise linked to the film in addition to an anticipated increase in gross sales of dolls.
Representatives for Mattel and Warner declined to touch upon the monetary preparations, although the corporate’s chief monetary officer mentioned at a convention on Thursday that the corporate would make about $125 million in whole billings from the movie.
Even although Barbie outcomes weren’t mirrored in Mattel’s newest earnings, launched July 26, all anybody wished to speak about on the earnings name was “Barbie.” Mr. Kreiz hailed the movie as a “milestone moment” within the firm’s technique to “capture the value of its I.P.” and exhibit its skill to draw and group up with high artistic expertise — a cornerstone of its formidable slate of extra toy-themed motion pictures.
After the primary “Barbie” trailer — displaying a hyper-blond, Day-Glo-clad Ms. Robbie and Ryan Gosling skating alongside Venice Beach — went viral in December, anticipation began constructing. Mattel inventory has been on a tear. It has gained 33 %, from $16.24 on Dec. 19 to this week’s $21.55. The S&P 500 rose 16 % over the identical interval.
Wall Street has been reluctant to provide a lot credit score to 1 hit, on the idea that such success is tough to copy. (“Barbie” has had no discernible impression on Warner Bros. Discovery’s inventory value.)
But for Mattel, the constructive impression of “Barbie” goes far past only one movie. The firm’s yearslong technique to turn out to be a serious movie producer, utilizing its huge storehouse of toys as mental property, had been met in Hollywood with skepticism, if not outright mockery. A-list expertise wasn’t lining as much as direct a luxurious purple dinosaur like Barney. But now the notion that Mattel’s management is prepared to belief and assist an unorthodox artistic group that delivered each a field workplace bonanza and a doable awards contender has radically altered that.
And Mattel’s stunning willingness to make enjoyable of itself was one of many components that principally delighted critics and added to the thrill that roped in lots of extra moviegoers than the “Barbie” fan base.
That Mr. Kreiz was prepared to giggle at his personal caricature got here as one thing as a shock to some acquaintances and former colleagues. An Israeli army veteran with twin Israeli and British citizenship, a former skilled wind surfer, an avid kite surfer and a health buff, with greater than a passing resemblance to a youthful Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 58-year-old Mr. Kreiz comes throughout as extra of a square-jawed G.I. Joe motion hero than a Barbie fan with a humorousness.
Mr. Kreiz’s whole profession was in media and leisure, not retail. His longtime mentor, the Power Rangers entrepreneur and billionaire Haim Saban, employed him recent out of the University of California, Los Angeles, to launch Fox Kids Europe, a three way partnership with Fox. He later ran Maker Studios, a YouTube aggregator, which Disney acquired in 2014. Mr. Kreiz left in 2016, and Maker was folded into the Disney Digital Network in 2017.
That “Barbie” even acquired made was no small feat. It had languished at Sony for years, with Mattel routinely renewing the choice, as numerous writers struggled to adapt the doll for the large display screen. Although one of the crucial fashionable toys ever, Barbie was the topic of intense controversy, seen each as an emblem of feminine empowerment and as an unimaginable normal of magnificence and femininity. The solely possible method appeared a parody. The comic Amy Schumer was as soon as slated for the half. But scripts got here and went.
Weeks after turning into chief government in 2018, Mr. Kreiz refused to resume the Sony choice, in keeping with a number of folks interviewed for this text. He referred to as Ms. Robbie’s agent and requested for a gathering. Ms. Robbie was among the many most sought-after younger actresses in Hollywood, recent from acclaimed performances in various roles — because the ill-fated ice skater Tonya Harding in “I, Tonya”; in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”; and as a fixture in Warner’s DC Comics universe as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s former girlfriend. And whereas no human might replicate Barbie’s exaggerated dimensions, Ms. Robbie got here moderately shut, whereas additionally radiating healthful magnificence.
Ms. Robbie was concurrently reaching out to Mattel and Mr. Kreiz after studying that the “Barbie” choice hadn’t been renewed. She was in search of a possible franchise to take to Warner, the place her manufacturing firm, LuckyChap, had a first-look deal. But she wasn’t trying to star within the movie herself.
Over breakfast on the Polo Lounge on the Beverly Hills Hotel, the plush leisure and celeb hangout not removed from Mattel’s much less glamorous El Segundo headquarters, Mr. Kreiz shared his imaginative and prescient: He didn’t need to make motion pictures so as simply to promote toys. He wished one thing recent, unconventional, daring.
“Our vision for Barbie was someone with a strong voice, a clear message, with cultural resonance that would make a societal impact,” he mentioned, recalling his message.
Mr. Kreiz’s apparent enthusiasm and willpower, and his pitch for artistic integrity make him onerous to withstand, as Ms. Brenner, a producer, found when he recruited her to run the newly created Mattel movie division throughout one other meal on the Polo Lounge. Ms. Brenner, a revered producer and an Academy Award nominee for “Dallas Buyers Club,” was interested in his concept for the film. In Mr. Kreiz’s imaginative and prescient, Mattel can be as a lot a film firm as a toy firm. The two bonded after he requested her who ought to play Barbie, and she or he, too, volunteered Ms. Robbie.
At their first assembly, Ms. Robbie recommended Ms. Gerwig for the director. The two have been associates and had talked about working collectively. Mr. Kreiz beloved the concept partially as a result of it was so sudden — Ms. Gerwig had directed and written acclaimed however offbeat unbiased movies like “Frances Ha,” “Lady Bird” and a brand new tackle the basic “Little Women,” however no big-budget fare.
“Lady Bird” was one in all Ms. Brenner’s favourite motion pictures. But would Ms. Gerwig think about such a mass-market, business proposal?
Ms. Gerwig, it turned out, had performed with Barbie dolls and beloved them. She even had outdated photographs of herself taking part in with Barbie. Ms. Brenner met with Ms. Gerwig and her companion, Noah Baumbach, additionally an acclaimed screenwriter and director, at an modifying facility in New York. They kicked round a couple of concepts, however nothing concrete emerged. Anything appeared doable.
A deal was struck, and Warner signed on as co-producer. Once Ms. Gerwig was on board, Ms. Robbie agreed to star.
At which level Ms. Gerwig and Mr. Baumbach retreated. “I know it’s not conventional and not what you’re used to, but we have to go into a room for a few months. That’s how we work and want to do it,” as Ms. Gerwig put it, Mr. Kreiz recalled.
When the script did land in Ms. Brenner’s e-mail, it was 147 pages — the size of a Quentin Tarantino movie, epic by Hollywood requirements. She closed her workplace door and began studying. “It was like going on this crazy ride,” she recalled. It broke guidelines, together with the so-called fourth wall, addressing the viewers straight. It poked enjoyable at Mattel.
New to the corporate, Ms. Brenner didn’t know if this could show an excessive amount of for Mattel executives. But she believed it was an important script.
Ms. Brenner’s first name was to Mr. Kreiz. “I’ve read a lot of scripts, and this is so different,” she instructed him. “It’s special. You don’t get this feeling many times in an entire career.”
Mr. Kreiz learn the script twice, again to again. “It was deep, provoking, unconventional and imaginative,” he mentioned. “It was everything I was hoping it would be.”
Ms. Brenner was pleasantly shocked. “Ynon is a very confident person,” she mentioned. “He can laugh at himself.”
At one level Mr. Kreiz flew to London, the place “Barbie” units have been being constructed at Warner’s studio exterior the town. He and Ms. Gerwig spent a half-hour discussing the proper shade of pink.
Mr. Kreiz and Ms. Brenner knew that they had a possible hit. “It was our secret that we couldn’t talk about,” Ms. Brenner recalled.
The authentic price range goal of $80 million jumped above $120 million as soon as Ms. Gerwig was signed. But even that wouldn’t understand the director’s full imaginative and prescient for the movie. For Warner executives it was a battle to search out what are referred to as “comps,” comparable movies that had grossed sufficient to justify such an outlay.
Would “Barbie” be one other “Charlie’s Angels” from 2019 — which was budgeted at $55 million however grossed solely $73 million and, after advertising prices, misplaced cash? Or one other “Wonder Woman” from 2017, budgeted at over $100 million, with a worldwide gross of $822 million?
Eventually the price range hit $141 million and, with some reshoots, finally topped $150 million.
On opening evening, July 21, Mr. Kreiz took his 19-year-old daughter to the Regal cinema advanced at Union Square in Manhattan. As they neared the theater, droves of moviegoers — and never simply younger ladies — have been heading to it in pink outfits. Five screenings have been in progress. All have been offered out.
Mr. Kreiz and his daughter dropped out and in to gauge viewers reactions. People laughed, applauded and in a couple of circumstances shed tears.
Of course the success of “Barbie” has drastically raised the bar — and expectations — for Mattel’s motion pictures in improvement, beginning with “Masters of the Universe,” written and directed by the brothers Adam and Aaron Nee. Twelve extra movies are in numerous levels of improvement, together with a “Hot Wheels” produced by J.J. Abrams, additionally at Warner. Some of those could have to be rethought.
And there’ll little question be “Barbie” sequels, even perhaps a James Bond-like franchise, which might be Mr. Kreiz’s final fantasy (though he mentioned it was too quickly to debate any such plans).
Mr. Kreiz acknowledged that in a notoriously fickle and unpredictable enterprise, future success is hardly assured. But “Barbie” has given Mattel momentum — the start of what he calls “a multiyear franchise management strategy.”