https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/10/after-barbie-mattel-is-raiding-its-entire-toy-box
In an era when “pre-awareness” rules Hollywood, the company is ginning up plots for everything from Hot Wheels to UNO.
And apparently it is adult-themed and explores millennial angst and disenchantment, because reasons. Yes, really.
This is perhaps bad news for Lena Dunham, whom Mattel has lined up to helm “Polly Pocket.”
Kill it with fire
I was gonna post a rant railing against this obvious money-grab (shilling, product placement, half the budget is marketing/promotion blah blah blah) when, utilizing my encyclopedic memory of the moving image, I realized this type of "cinema" is nothing new. The only real difference is that now it is no longer an afterthought but an integral part of the plan, an efficient, organized, concerted cross-media marketing ploy. It's not meta, it's nostalgia rationalization; it's not smart, it's calculated.
Brand immersion my ass.
I think your timing's off. You might have made big money pitching that idea 10-20 years ago. The Micronauts Movie! Action Jackson: 8" of Dynamite!