Mattel And MGM Partner To Produce Live Action American Girl Film

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures (MGM) have partnered to develop a live action motion picture based on Mattel's classic American Girl® line of books and dolls.

Mattel Films, MGM and PICTURESTART's Erik Feig will produce the film. Cassidy Lange, MGM's Co-President of Production and Robbie Brenner, Mattel Films' Executive Producer will oversee production.

American Girl characters were first introduced in 1986 and have since offered an inspiring world of dolls, original content, and experiences that nourish a girl's spirit and help develop her strength of character. Over 32 million American Girl dolls and 157 million American Girl books have been sold through the company's catalogue, retail stores and website to date. American Girl's popular character stories have previously been adapted into several successful films made for television and culminated in Picturehouse and New Line Cinema's feature adaptation of the Kit Kittredge character with Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, starring Abigail Breslin.

Ynon Kreiz, Mattel's Chairman and CEO said: "American Girl is a beloved, story-driven franchise lending itself perfectly to a feature film. In MGM and Erik we have world-class partners and we look forward to working with them to give our passionate American Girl fans of all ages another way to connect with this iconic brand. This is another example of Mattel continuing to execute on our strategy as we transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company."

"American Girl is a TIMELESS and iconic brand that is part of the fabric of families all over the world. We look forward to working with our partners at Mattel and PICTURESTART to bring this cross-generational film to audiences all over the globe," said Jonathan Glickman, MGM's President, Motion Picture Group.

Mattel recently announced an upcoming Hot Wheels® live action motion picture and the Barbie® feature-film starring and co-produced by Academy Award®-nominated actress Margot Robbie, both in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. Mattel has also partnered with Sony Pictures for a reimagining of Masters of the Universe, based on Mattel's beloved toy line which became a successful animated television program.

MGM recently released Steven Caple Jr.'s Creed II, starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, setting the record for highest grossing live action opener across Thanksgiving. Upcoming on the MGM film slate is Fighting With My Family, a comedy-drama written and directed by Stephen Merchant, based on the true personal story of WWE Superstar PaigeTM and her family of professional wrestlers, starring Florence Pugh, Vince Vaughn and Dwayne Johnson, in New York and Los Angeles on February 14, 2019, expanding wide on February 22, 2019; The Hustle, a hilarious new comedy starring Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway and REBEL Wilson, which will be released in theaters on May 10, 2019; the feature adaptation of Nicola Yoon's best-selling novel The Sun Is Also A Star with Warner Bros. Pictures, directed by Ry Russo-Young and starring Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, in theaters on May 17, 2019; Conrad Vernonand Greg Tiernan's animated adaption of The Addams Family featuring the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler and Allison Janney, in theaters on October 18, 2019; the 25thinstallment of EON Productions, MGM and Universal Pictures' James Bond film directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Daniel Craig which will be released theatrically in the U.S. on February 14, 2020; Legally Blonde 3 starring Reese Witherspoon in her return to the beloved character Elle Woods, is scheduled for release on May 8, 2020; and Candyman, a re-imagining of the 1992 horror classic, directed by Nia DaCosta and written and produced by Jordan Peele, in theaters on June 12, 2020.

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