Paramount may not be the only one benefiting from two of this summer’s box-offfice success for “Transfomers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.”
Hasbro Toys reports that company earnings are up 9% for the third-quarter, largely thanks to the box-office success of the two tentpole films. Both movies are based on the successful and popular toy-lines by Hasbro.
While Hasbro declined to disclose just how many of the “Transformers”-based toys it has sold, it expected the sequel to generate as much as $600 million in sales for the brand this year.
“G.I. Joe” which crossed the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office over the weekend, helped drive up interest in the toy line, as well. It expects revenue of more than $100 million for the property this year.
While that figure hardly comes close to what Transformers has collected, it’s still three times more than what G.I. Joe sold a year ago.
“I don’t think we can expect every motion picture we put out to be ‘Transformers,'” said Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner.
But the pics are helping boost Hasbro’s overall sales — up nearly 10% for the year — while the rest of the toy industry is down 2% to $10.3 billion through August, according to NPD Group.
Hasbro has sequels of “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” in the works at Paramount, and several high-profile projects set up at Universal, including pics based on its board games like Battleship, Monopoly, Candyland and Ouija that should also boost interest in those lines outside the Christmas holiday season when toymakers can earn half their annual sales.
It will produce toys based on “Iron Man 2” and “Toy Story 3” next year.
