Burning Question: Does the World Need a Barbie Movie?

Why is Mattel doing a live-action Barbie comedy? Its toys are already hugely popular, so what could it get by backing a potentially risky film series? Is it desperate for new income perhaps?

Looking at the numbers, I can tell you that desperate is not a word I would assign to Team Barbie, or even poor Ken and his club-ready wardrobe apparently inspired by Beverly Hills, 90210 — the first one. No, desperate is not the word I would use. I would say enterprising. You know. Kind of like the new entrepreneur Barbie due out this summer.

Sure, Barbie sales could be pinker at the moment; “Sales of Barbie were down 14 percent globally for the last year,” notes consultant Richard Gottlieb of Global Toy Industry Experts. Barbie also might be looking a little stale next to fresher offerings such as the kids from Monster High. And, says Gottleib, Barbie also may need some help in the fan-recruitment department these days.

"Barbie is big, but it’s big within a cohort largely consisting of girls up to the age of 8," Gottleib says. (Until about 20 years ago, Barbie used to hold sway over girls as old as 12, on average.)

[Related: Hollywood’s Barbie Problem How Will Human Actress Size Up?]

"Hello Kitty, meanwhile, can be fashionable for women at any age. Barbie hasn’t been able to do that."

But still, we’re talking about a $1.2 billion brand that runs the risk of significant damage if a film fails. So why do it?

Two reasons. First, let’s not underestimate the appeal of, for lack of a better term, Lego money.

“The Lego Movie was hugely grossing film,” says Laurie Schacht, CEO of Adventure Publishing, whose trade publications include The Toy Book and The Licensing Report. (Indeed. We’re talking nearly $253 million in gross.)

"It was unbelievable. It topped everyone’s expectations, and now we see the sequel is in the works. And ‘Transformers’ is coming out with their fourth sequel.”

[Related: 19 Lego Movie Easter Eggs]

Now Mattel wants some of that toy-to-big-screen cashola, too. And there may be more of that Monopoly paper lying around than you think. Sure, plenty of little girls love Lego bricks, and Transformers, too, and they likely went to see those movies, maybe even more than once. But a live-action Barbie on the big screen for the first time? That’s like… like… a real-live Frozen, but starring an icon that both moms and daughters can watch together! With a ton of pink in it! It’s a win win win for the underserved girl-and-mom-toy-consumer nexus!

"This project would keep Barbie in the forefront of people’s minds," says Marlene Morris Towns, a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. "There’s an opportunity here, if they give her an interesting storyline, a chance to jump on this trend of female empowerment. Between the Ban Bossy campaign, the attention to GoldieBlox, and the hugely successful “Frozen,” theres’ a chance to jump on that sentiment.”

But perhaps more importantly, let’s not underestimate the power of a hungry partner. Warner Bros. has Lego. The Transformers flicks have been distributed by DreamWorks or Paramount. But…

"Sony was all left out," Schacht says. "Until they got Barbie."

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Leslie Gornstein is an entertainment writer and the host of the weekly Hollywood gossip podcast The Fame Fatale.