Mattel Studios Head Reveals Why the New He-Man Movie Is Barbie’s Perfect Counterpart
Mattel’s He-Man revival just powered up: Masters of the Universe has cleared a major production milestone, and studio president Robbie Brenner—fresh off touring the colossal set and watching an early director’s cut at MIPCOM Cannes 2025—calls it a perfect complement to Barbie.
Mattel just gave a big status update on its live-action He-Man movie, and the takeaway is simple: this thing is huge. Like, bigger-than-Barbie huge.
On set, it was all outsized everything
Mattel Studios president Robbie Brenner got on stage at MIPCOM Cannes 2025 and walked through what she saw while visiting the Masters of the Universe set last year. Her read: it was the largest production she has ever been involved with, even compared to Barbie. The crew reportedly sprawled across multiple sound stages and, at one point, used as many as eight backlots. Also roaming around: performers in eight-foot-tall character builds. So yeah, scale is the headline here.
'I think it is a perfect complement to Barbie. People are going to be so excited. It is so much fun and feels so different.'
Where the movie sits right now
Brenner says she has already watched a director's cut, which tells you post-production is well underway. She also called Masters of the Universe Mattel Studios' second theatrical feature after Barbie. The film is directed by Travis Knight and stars Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, and Idris Elba. Amazon MGM has it dated for June 2026.
Why Mattel is swinging this big
Barbie changed Mattel's calculus. After $1.4 billion worldwide and eight Oscar nominations, Brenner says the company sees incredible opportunity across its brands. Masters of the Universe is part of a broader push that also includes Polly Pocket, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Barney.
The industry backdrop
Brenner's comments came during her headliner session at MIPCOM Cannes 2025, which runs October 13-16 and tends to be where studios and distributors show off their next wave of franchises across TV and film.
- Title: Masters of the Universe (live-action)
- Director: Travis Knight
- Cast: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba
- Status: Early director's cut screened; production moving toward completion
- Scale notes: Multiple sound stages and reportedly eight backlots in use; eight-foot-tall characters on set
- Release: June 2026
- Distributor: Amazon MGM
- Mattel context: Follows Barbie's $1.4B run and eight Oscar nominations; part of a slate that includes Polly Pocket, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Barney
- Event: Comments made at MIPCOM Cannes 2025 (Oct 13-16)