He-Man bombed in theaters, but Mattel tripled its MOTU toy sales
The Masters of the Universe movie flopped at the box office, but became the most-watched film on Amazon Prime Video globally and tripled Mattel’s He-Man merchandise sales. Mattel’s CEO says it proves owning the IP beats needing a theatrical hit.
The Masters of the Universe movie was a box-office disappointment. It also just became one of Mattel‘s better business decisions of the year, and the toys are the reason.
In its second-quarter earnings, released August 5, Mattel reported that the He-Man film, despite a weak theatrical run, tripled its Masters of the Universe merchandise billings year-to-date.
On top of that, the movie became a streaming hit after landing on Amazon Prime Video, hitting No. 1 most-watched film globally on the platform in its first week.
So the movie flopped where movies are “supposed” to succeed, and won everywhere Mattel actually makes its money.
The box office was the least important number
The theatrical run genuinely didn’t go well, and Mattel isn’t pretending otherwise.
Masters of the Universe, starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man and Jared Leto as Skeletor, underperformed in theaters after its June 5 release. For a lot of studios, that’s the end of the story, a write-off and a shelved franchise.
For Mattel, it was almost beside the point.
The company’s entire modern strategy is built on the idea that its movies are marketing engines for its products, not the products themselves. By that measure, a film that puts He-Man back in the cultural conversation did its job whether or not it sold tickets.
The toys are where the money showed up
The merchandise numbers are the actual headline, and they’re substantial.
Tripling year-to-date merchandise billings for the brand is a huge lift, driven by orders for action figures and the broader movie product line Mattel rolled out starting in April, an expansive push across toys, collectibles, apparel, and games with more than 70 partners worldwide.
Masters of the Universe began life as a toy line in the 1980s, and the movie’s real function was to send kids and collectors back to the shelves.
That worked even as the film stumbled theatrically, which is exactly the disconnect Mattel wants investors to notice.
Amazon turned the “flop” into a hit
The streaming performance is the other half of the rescue, and it reframes the whole “bomb” narrative.
Once Masters of the Universe hit Amazon Prime Video, it became the most-watched movie on the platform globally, and the No. 1 most-watched film across all U.S. streaming services in its first week of streaming release. A movie that couldn’t draw a theater audience drew an enormous one at home.
That’s an increasingly common pattern, films that misfire theatrically finding a second, larger life on streaming, and for Mattel it means the He-Man brand got mass exposure regardless of the box office. Every one of those streaming viewers is a potential toy buyer.
Why Mattel is telling this story
CEO Ynon Kreiz pointed to the film’s “halo effect” on the brand as proof that owning the IP drives value beyond theatrical success.
It’s the same playbook that made Barbie a phenomenon: the movie is a means, the products and the brand are the end. Mattel needs that argument to land, because the quarter wasn’t all good news, sales rose 10% but the company posted an $18 million net loss on inflation and higher costs, and the doll category, led by Barbie, slipped 5%.
So Masters of the Universe is Mattel’s evidence that the strategy works even when a film underperforms.
A theatrical flop that triples toy sales and tops streaming charts is, according to the company, not a failure at all. It’s the model working as designed, with the box office demoted to just one number among several, and no longer the one that decides whether He-Man was worth making.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Forbes, Joan Verdon (August 5, 2026), verified for Mattel’s Q2 results, the 10% sales rise and $18 million net loss, the Masters of the Universe movie tripling merchandise billings year-to-date, the weak box office, the film becoming the most-watched on Amazon Prime Video globally and No. 1 across US streaming in its first week, Ynon Kreiz’s “halo effect” comments, and the 5% doll-category decline
Mattel / Business Wire (March 24, 2026), verified for the global product line from Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Studios, the April 25 retail rollout, the June 5 theatrical date, the 70-plus partners, and Nick Karamanos’s statements
Toyark (March 25, 2026), verified for the movie product line details, the additional figure reveals, and the throughout-2026-and-2027 release cadence
Nerdtropolis (April 2026), verified for the film’s cast and creative team, the June 5 2026 release, and the Barbie-strategy comparison