Fresh off of its success with the Barbie movie, toy company Mattel Inc (NASDAQ: MAT) has announced a new licensing deal with one of the most-watched series on Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) of all time.
What Happened: Mattel and Amazon MGM Studios, a unit of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced a multi-year licensing partnership for the hit show "Wednesday," which premiered on Netflix in November 2022.
Under the licensing agreement, Mattel will create and sell dolls and collector sets inspired by the hit series, which was produced by MGM Television.
Mattel will release the "Wednesday" themed products in 2024 with dolls from the Monster High franchise and collector sets from the Little People Collector property coming to consumers. The items will be made available on the Wednesday storefront on Amazon and with other retailers.
According to the companies, Monster High and "Wednesday" share many similarities, as both franchises center on "high schools full of monsters and the supernatural."
"Wednesday" followed Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, during her time at the Nevermore Academy boarding school. This marked the first time fans of the hit Addams Family franchise got to see a live-action version of the Addams Family with Wednesday in her teenager years.
Why It's Important: In its first week of availability on Netflix, "Wednesday" had 341.23 million hours viewed. This topped a record previously set by the fourth season of "Stranger Things."
In its first three weeks of availability, the series was watched by 150 million households, or more than half of Netflix's total subscribers. The series was ranked in the top 10 of all 93 countries tracked by Netflix at the time of its release and was number one in 83 countries, tying a record previously set by "Stranger Things."
The show went on to be the most watched English-language series of all time on Netflix. In January 2023, Netflix announced the renewal of the series for a second season on the streaming platform.