Mattel Films has big plans for, well, everything in their arsenal, as they look to start transforming all their toys and brandsinto movie franchises. Alongside the likes ofBarbie, Hot Wheels,Barney, andPolly Pocket, one of the more surprising ideas centers on the fortune-tellingMagic 8 Ball, which it has now been revealed will be a horror-comedy that will edge closer to an adult oriented R rating. Revealed in a report by theNew Yorker, theMagic 8 Ballmovie is being written by the screenwriter behindCocaine Bear, Jimmy Warden, with the approach becoming the “subject of some debate” behind the scenes.
“We’re not going to make any rated-R movies,” promised producer and head of Mattel Films, Robbie Brenner. But, the story of theMagic 8 Ballwon’t go quite as faras R, the project “walks the line a little bit,” with Brenner adding, “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.”
So, what could this mean for the horrifying tale of theMagic 8 Ball? For those perhaps unaware, a Magic 8 Ball is a plastic ball that, when shaken, reveals different message at its center. Messages such as “It is decidedly so,” “Ask again later,” and the much more ominous “Outlook not so good.”
While plot details for theMagic 8 Ballmovie are currently unknown, it’s not hard to imagine a group of teens stumbling across a cursed version of the toy. Asking it the typical ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions, no doubt the ball will reply “Don’t count on it” before much chaos and violence ensues.
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Mattel Will First Take a Unique Approach to Barbie
Before Mattel Films empties the tool box and turns everything that falls out into a movie franchise, the studio will first reveal their unique approach to bringingBarbieto the big screen. From Oscar-nominated writer and director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), written by Gerwig and Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story),Barbiehas amassed an all-star cast led by Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling asour main versions of Barbie and Ken.
Barbiebegins when Robbie’s version of the iconic doll isexpelled from the utopian Barbielandfor being less-than-perfect. And suffering an existential crisis. With Ken by her side, Barbie sets off into the real world, where she soon discovers the joys and perils of living among humans.
The stellar supporting cast includes America Ferrera (End of Watch, How to Train Your Dragon), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell, Yesterday), Issa Rae (The Photograph, Insecure), Rhea Perlman (I’ll See You in My Dreams, Matilda), and Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Talladega Nights), Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Juno), Ariana Greenblatt (Avengers: Infinity War, 65), Ana Cruz Kayne (Little Women), Emma Mackey (Emily, Sex Education), Hari Nef (Assassination Nation, Transparent), Alexandra Shipp (theX-Menmovies), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami, Peaky Blinders), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education), Dua Lipa (Argylle) and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen).
Barbieis due to premiere in Los Angeles on June 27, 2025, and is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 26, 2025.
