Unequivocally, the biggest movie of 2023 was Barbie. Worldwide, it collected a colossal, year-topping box office of over $1.45 billion, outpacing the incredibly successful Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.36 billion) and its fellow summer blockbuster and Academy Award winner, Oppenheimer.
The quality of the film as a coherent story put to screen is neither here nor there: production companies have now seen it as the goal. While certainly not the first outing, Barbie showcased the template for somewhat subtly turning movies into advertisements to boost sales across the board and charge fans to see them at cinemas.
So, it won’t come as a surprise that the star of the film, Margot Robbie, wants to get back in on the action. Riding the momentum granted to the rising star by Barbie’s success, Robbie’s production company is being tipped to repeat a similar model and, possibly, a similar success story as the 2023 summer hit.
Robbie’s Bringing Monopoly to the Big Screen
Few entertainment brands are as instantly recognizable as Barbie, while also seemingly being an odd for a choice to put to film. Still, it all came together and worked a treat. Now, seemingly with a greater challenge on her hands, Robbie is turning to Hasbro’s eternally popular board game brand, Monopoly.
Naturally, Monopoly is far more than just a board game these days. It has many video game adaptations, a bunch of spin-offs, particularly in card gaming, and the brand has expanded rapidly in online casino gaming, with PokerNews featuring a plethora of sites that host a whole bunch of different Monopoly games.
Bring the House Down, Mega Movers, On the Money, Millionaire, Heights, Megaways, Electric Wins, Luna New Year, Monopoly Live, Monopoly Travel World Tour, and so many more showcase how far the iconic brand can run in a new realm of entertainment. When put to film, many would assume that the monopolist angle and Rich Uncle Pennybags.
The angle that the LuckyChap production company will go, most likely, will be more along the lines of its origin stories. Robbie’s company states its aim as promoting female storytellers, which could lead them to a telling of Monopoly’s original designer, Elizabeth Magie, who made it as a critique of capitalism.
Iconography and Marketing Will be Key
A compelling drama that delves into a critique or a well-balanced satire of capitalism would work well from the monopoly board game concept – especially when you mix in Magie’s story as the forgotten inventor. However, getting the Monopoly rights is much more about bringing the iconography to screen.
The Guardian lists many such projects that are now in the works alongside Monopoly, including a Barney film, a Polly Pocket movie, and one based on Play-Doh. However, the most important element of the list is the marketing budget spent on Barbie. It was a colossal, impressive effort, and it cost $150 million – more than the $130 million budget.
Barbie’s almighty marketing campaign made the strong appeal of the brand on the big screen even more enticing. Having a trailer bleeding pink and starring two of the hottest actors of the moment – Robbie and Ryan Gosling – also helped, and getting them to venture into all kinds of promo events helped boost the film to another level.
Few would have seen the idea for a Barbie movie as being an opportunity to see a great story brought to life on the big screen, but there was more than enough of its iconography and marketing to make it a huge success. A Monopoly film, and the others in the same vein, could mimic that success if they follow the Barbie model.
Main photo credit: Puzzles HQ
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