Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz discusses New ”Masters of the Universe” Movie

Ynon Kreiz, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mattel recently sat down with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi at the 2024 Milken Institute Global Conference, and discussed the recently announced team up with Amazon MGM Studios to bring a new “Masters of the Universe” movie to cinemas everywhere on June 5, 2026.

In that conversation, Kriez discussed the strength of the MOTU brand and how their marketing strategy for the new film will compare to last year’s blockbuster hit “Barbie“. Check it out:

Yahoo Finance Brian Sozzi: So let’s start Masters of the Universe. Big news out of your company. Why is that brand so important and how are you going to grow it?

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz: Well Masters of the Universe is an iconic brand, an incredible mythology and we could not be more excited about bringing this movie to the big screen, and small screens as well. All screens. It’s a great franchise and it’s really part of our strategy to continue to capture value for Mattel outside of the toy aisle. Our vision for Mattel films is to collaborate with leading filmmakers to create standout quality movies based on our iconic brands and touch culture and appeal to audiences everywhere, and it’s very much about that journey.

Yahoo Finance Brian Sozzi: Of course (you had a) home run with Barbie. We all know that. How do you make every movie Barbie-ish? Like, should investors be thinking Masters of the Universe is going to perform like Barbie?

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz: Well, we don’t say that every movie will be the next Barbie but we’re absolutely looking to apply the same methodology and the same approach in collaborating with leading filmmakers, leveraging and amplifying their creative vision and our iconic brands, then creating demand in the marketplace. What the way we are approaching all of our brand evolution is about infusing brand purpose in cultural relevance and this is the common theme that we expect that will play out in all of our product and experiences that very much has been behind the success of Barbie, of course in collaboration with the creative genius of Greta Gerwig, bringing and creating something that will stand out in culture.

Yahoo Finance Brian Sozzi: So when does Masters of the Universe, when does that hit, and what is that marketing campaign because I was thinking back to Barbie and that whole campaign, I mean, it captured… it wasn’t just a U.S. thing. It was a global phenomenon.

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz: That’s right the Barbie campaign was very much about demand creation and how we collaborated with the Warner Brothers who did an incredible job on the marketing side of the movie and then we came with our capabilities and created a cultural event through marketing and promotion and activation all over the world, across retail with consumer product partners. Masters of the Universe is an incredible franchise. It has a large built-in fan base. We are seeing incredible demand among adult collectors also with children, the Netflix shows are doing very well, the animated series on Netflix, and we’re very excited about creating yet another Global event. And the approach will be about infusing purpose creating cultural relevance and currency. Our job as a company is to take brands that are timeless and make them timely. And what you saw in the Barbie movie is how we approach all of our projects. Of course it will be different executions, different genres, different demographics, but the approach and the opportunity is the same.

Yahoo Finance Brian Sozzi: When I saw the Masters at the Universe news hit I thought, I’m really old now. Like I remember watching this stuff as a kid!

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz: You’re never old. You’re never old to enjoy these brands. These brands are just incredible and they always play out.

You can check.out the interview below on YouTube:

The Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films “Masters of the Universe” movie is slated for a June 5th 2026 worldwide theatrical release. We’ll see you next time!