All the way back in June of 2022, Funko - the company that makes those collectible, plastic toys with giant heads that seem to be on sale everywhere - acquired Mondo, a company that had spent the previous decade-plus making a name for itself as the leading seller of collectible screenprints, vinyl soundtrack releases, and more. Less than a year later, in March of 2023, Funko announced that it was essentially gutting the company, letting go a number of Mondo's founding members and restructuring the entire operation in the process. This was, to say the last, very surprising to fans of Mondo's work, as well as the many talented artists who have worked with them over the years.
That was an unfortunate turn of events for all involved, but it's not where the Mondo saga ends: as announced earlier today at The Wrap, a collection of former Mondo employees - including Mo Shafeek, Spencer Hickman, Eric Garza, Mitch Putnam, and newly-installed CEO Jenny Jacobi - have reformed under the name Mutant, which is rolling out underneath the umbrella of Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah's production company, Spectrevision.
The Wrap quotes Mutant's press release as saying the following:
“Mutant will work closely with studio partners including Disney, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and Netflix as well as independent filmmakers, composers, and creators to expand and deepen their audiences’ relationships with the films and series they love via beautifully-rendered limited-edition posters, soundtracks, and collectibles by the world’s best artists. The company will build on this artist-forward foundation of collectibles for beloved licensed properties to also introduce original works from an international roster of visual artists and musicians alike.”
Yes, Mutant will pick up where Mondo left off, and they'll be doing it alongside many of the insanely talented poster artists who helped build the Mondo brand over the years, including Francesco Francavilla, Matthew Woodson, Teagan White, Aaron Horkey, Nicolas Delort, Matt Taylor, Deb Lee, Phantom City Creative, Rory Kurtz, Greg Ruth, Daniel Danger, Murugiah, We Buy Your Kids, Ken Taylor and more. On the vinyl side of things, The Wrap says that Mutant is teasing new scores from "Michael Giacchino, Hans Zimmer, Carter Burwell, Isabella Summers, Goblin, Laura Karpman, Le Matos, Simon Waskow and many others." Hot damn!
Included with this announcement is the news that new Mutant releases are already en route, including vinyl soundtrack releases for Wonka and Society of the Snow, “an intricately sculpted and foil-stamped fine art print” from famed poster artist Aaron Horkey, and new poster releases for timed to the forthcoming release of Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two.
At a time when so many companies are being bought up and either gutted or shut down, it's genuinely exciting to see one of our favorites gain a new lease on life under a completely new banner. That it's happening alongside the good folks at Spectrevision (who've produced some of our favorite genre movies of the past decade, including Mandy, The Greasy Strangler, and Daniel Isn't Real, is just the cherry on top of this particular sundae.
Congratulations to everyone named above. You've been missed, and it will be great to have you back doing what you all do so well. Stay tuned for more on Mutant's forthcoming releases in the weeks and months ahead, gang.
