Hasbro Moves To Expand Magic: The Gathering Into Film & TV — Why Legendary Matters

When most people hear Hasbro Inc HAS they think of the company's toys and games like Transformers, G.I. Joe, Monopoly, Nerf and Play-Doh. Thanks to a new entertainment announcement, investors could soon focus more on the company's Wizards of the Coast division.

What Happened: Hasbro Entertainment is launching a film and television universe based on the Magic: The Gathering game, which comes as the brand saw strong growth in the third quarter.

Magic: The Gathering, launched in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, was the world's first trading card game and became a staple in the sector over the years. Hasbro acquired Wizards of the Coast in 1999 and in recent years has seen increased growth from the sector thanks to digital gaming.

Hasbro is teaming up with Legendary Entertainment, a leading entertainment company that counts Apollo Global Management APO as its co-owner with Legendary.

Legendary Entertainment and Hasbro plan to launch a movie first and then expand into television, following a similar path of the "Dune" franchise, which Legendary Entertainment also worked on, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

"We pride ourselves on being thoughtful caretakers of singular, beloved IP, and no property better fits that description than Magic: The Gathering," Legendary's Chairwoman of worldwide production Mary Parent said.

Legendary has worked on turning brands into franchises before with Dune, Godzilla Vs. Kong and the upcoming "Minecraft" movie.

Hasbro has a Magic: The Gathering TV show in the works for Netflix Inc NFLX. A planned movie was in the works for years but never was created.

"This is an exciting and complementary partnership, uniting one of the world' most iconic brands with a powerful and proven steward," Hasbro Entertainment head of film Zev Foreman said.

Read Also: Post Malone Snags Magic: The Gathering’s Rarest Lord Of The Rings Card: Here’s How Much He Reportedly Spent

Why It's Important: Magic: The Gathering has been played by 50 million people around the world and has a strong built-in fan base that could translate to a strong reception for the movies and TV shows.

Not all game adaptations work out successfully as several Dungeons & Dragons movies did not perform strongly at the box office. Wizards of the Coast also owns Dungeons & Dragons.

Hasbro has played a key role in adapting its brands into movies and TV shows, including the popular Transformers franchise.

The partnership with Legendary could be the key here as the company has successfully turned Dune into a strong movie and TV franchise.

Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment continues to be a strong performer for the company and with the latest entertainment news could provide more upside for shareholders.

In 2022, an activist shareholder pushed for Hasbro to spinoff Wizards of the Coast, suggesting there could be significant upside for Hasbro's share price by unlocking the key growth segment.

HAS Price Action: Hasbro stock trades at $58.92 versus a 52-week trading range of $46.10 to $73.46.

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