Following 'Barbie,' Mattel is planning 17 more movies based on its famous toys and brands here they all are

After Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie transformed Barbie into a blockbuster movie, Lena Dunham and Lily Collins plan to do the same to the micro-doll line, Polly Pocket.

In 2021, Deadline reported that Dunham is planning to write and direct the movie, with Collins set to star as the title character, as well as produce.

Mattel and MGM are teaming up to create the movie.

Dunham said: "Polly Pocket was responsible for countless hours of childhood escapism for me – Polly gave me a tiny world of magic and autonomy to narrate, so it's pretty poetic to be tackling these same ideas now as a director collaborating with the brilliant Lily Collins, Robbie Brenner, Mattel, and MGM."

She added: "I'm so thrilled to bring to bear both my love of this historic property and also my deep-seated belief that young women need smart playful films that speak to them without condescension."

Collins said that she was "obsessed" with the toys as a child and that it "is a real dream come true" to "bring these tiny toys to the big screen."

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.'"

It's true. Daniel Kaluuya, known for acting in "Black Panther," "Get Out," and "Widows," is producing a movie about the friendly purple dinosaur, Barney.

It was first reported in 2019 that he would be producing the project through his company, 59% Productions.

The Marvel star told Entertainment Weekly in 2020: "Barney taught us, 'I love you, you love me. Won't you say you love me too?' That's one of the first songs I remember, and what happens when that isn't true? I thought that was really heartbreaking. I have no idea why but it feels like that makes sense. It feels like there's something unexpected that can be poignant but optimistic. Especially at this time now, I think that's really, really needed."

According to the New Yorker, the movie will be a "surrealistic" and "A24-type" film.

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.

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 hard at work to create a horror movie instead.

Deadline first reported in 2019 that Mattel was partnering with Blumhouse to create the horror movie. However, last year, 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."

A "Masters of the Universe" live-action movie with Dolph Lundgren was attempted in 1987 based on the famous He-Man toys, animated series, and comics. However, it was a critical and commercial failure at the time, only gaining a cult fandom much later.

Mattel is attempting a new live-action movie, teaming up this time with Netflix, as reported by Deadline in January 2022.

Speaking to the New Yorker, Mattel's CEO Ynon Kreiz said he believes the film could spawn a franchise "as big as Marvel and DC."

Last year, Mattel also announced a Hot Wheels movie to be produced by J.J. Abrams's production company, Bad Robot.

Variety reported that a movie based on the toy car brand is at the script stage and Deadline said that it will be made through a partnership between Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.

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

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, which is 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.

The story was first reported in 2018 by numerous publications.

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

Director Marc Forster has jumped from Bond movies to 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 Thomas the Tank Engine 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.

"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.

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

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

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."

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.

Last year, 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 Matchbox, a toy car brand named so because each car can fit in a matchbox.

Not much is known about the movie but the publication said that five writers spent a week with a whiteboard trying to come up with a story. Mattel Films' Robbie Brenner said that she inspired the movie's villain.

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

View-Masters were a 20th-century stereoscope through which you could see special pictures.

No further details have been given about the movie since 2019.

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 and it will be produced by two-time Oscar-winning producer Peter Farrelly.

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.