NBCUniversal Brand Development drives the global expansion of the company’s intellectual properties, characters and stories through innovative physical and digital products, content, and consumer experiences. Along with franchise brand management, NBCUniversal Brand Development includes NBCUniversal Consumer Products and NBCUniversal Games and Digital Platforms business units. At this year’s Brand Licensing Europe, NBCUniversal Brand Development will showcase an expanding roster of properties from the company’s film and television creative partners including Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment, DreamWorks Animation, as well as NBCUniversal cable and television.
Premiering in the summer of 2017, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures bring Despicable Me 3, the follow-up to global blockbusters, Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, as well as Minions, the number one animated film in 2015 that grossed $1.16 billion worldwide. NBCUniversal is also looking forward to creating unique programs with industry leaders for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s, The Secret Life of Pets 2 – the sequel and next film in The Secret Life of Pets.
For upcoming live-action films, NBCUniversal will highlight Fast 8, the highly anticipated eighth chapter in Universal Pictures’ global fan-favorite, Fast & Furious movie phenomenon, releasing in theaters April 2017. One of the most popular action-movie serials of all time, the franchise has earned more than $3.8 billion in worldwide. Focusing on best-in-class partners that capture the essence of the property, NBCUniversal will debut a new toy line with global master toy licensee, Mattel, as well as an extensive cross-category merchandising program for Fast 8.
In June 2017, Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy. From sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
Looking ahead into 2018, the division is teaming-up with its new, global master toy licensee, Mattel, to roll out a wide variety of toys and consumer products inspired by Jurassic World 2. Executive producer Steven Spielberg and stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for the next chapter in Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World. Mattel will design, produce and bring to market a wide variety of toys and consumer products inspired by the film franchise.
Following the recent corporate acquisition of DreamWorks Animation, NBCUniversal Brand Development is now responsible for managing the DreamWorks Animation portfolio of properties for consumer and digital products globally.
At BLE, DreamWorks Animation will showcase a vast portfolio of new and classic properties for film, television and digital platforms. Headlining the roster is Trolls, the upcoming feature film set to be DreamWorks Animation’s biggest and most expansive consumer products effort to date.
For DreamWorks Television, beloved favorite Noddy continues to celebrate the success of his all-new original series, Noddy, Toyland Detective. Another classic, Voltron, also returns to the small screen and has wowed fans and critics alike with the series Voltron: Legendary Defender. DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon breathes fire with the hit television series Dragons: Race to the Edge. Fans have embraced the original series Dinotrux both on the screen and at retail and will soon fall in love with the upcoming series Spirit Riding Free. In the digital space, AwesomenessTV, the exploding multi-platform media company, continues to captivate an enormous audience with short and long form content, led by an ever-expanding roster of incredible talent including more than 90,000 content creators.