Hasbro loses license for ‘Jurassic World’ toys to Mattel

By Reuters

Plastic made Barbie figures of U.S. toy manufacturer Mattel are seen inside a basket at a children's indoor playing area in Hanau near Frankfurt

(Reuters) – Mattel Inc <MAT.O> said it won the license to make merchandise based on “Jurassic World” films, a day after rival Hasbro Inc <HAS.O> announced the termination of the contract with Comcast Corp’s <CMCSA.O> NBCUniversal due to disagreement over terms.

The top two U.S. toymakers have been competing for lucrative contracts with Hollywood studios in the past few years as demand for their traditional toys weakens.

Mattel has been looking to expand its offerings targeted at boys after years of sliding sales of its Barbie dolls, while Hasbro has been focusing on toys for girls.

In 2014, Mattel lost the license to make Walt Disney Co’s <DIS.N> Disney Princess dolls, including those based on the movie “Frozen”, to Hasbro.

Mattel, under its deal with NBCUniversal, will design, produce and sell a variety of toys and consumer products based on “Jurassic World” films, starting July 2017.

These products are expected to hit stores in early 2018, Mattel said in a statement on Tuesday. The next film in the “Jurassic World” franchise is set for release in 2018.

The license generates annual revenue of about $100 million when a movie in the series is released, Hasbro said on Monday.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)