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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Entertainment
Stuart Heritage

Playing to win: are Mattel movies about to take over Hollywood?

The new version of Barbie will star Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
The new version of Barbie will star Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Photograph: Erin Cadigan/Alamy

Deep down, everyone wishes they were Marvel. Armed with nothing but B-grade IP and heroic levels of pluck, a lowly comic book company slowly went about wrestling the film industry into an inescapable stranglehold. But a decade and a half on, Marvel has become the established order. It is time for a new plucky upstart to stage another revolution. That upstart?

Mattel. You know, Mattel. The toy people. No, really.

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