With all the money raked in by the G.I. Joe and Transformers franchises over the last 10 years, it's not surprising that studios are always searching for more classic toy properties to turn into the next big Hollywood franchise. But sometimes their choices leaves us scratching our heads. Case in point, the recent announcement that Fast & Furious director Justin Lin will direct an adaptation of Hot Wheels. It's the most curious news in this arena since the announcement of a Tetris movie trilogy.
Generally, we'd prefer it if studios stick to toy properties that have actual characters and stories attached. With that in mind, here are seven classic toy properties that deserve the movie treatment far more than Hot Wheels. Some of them have already had at least one shot on the big screen, but let's just say they deserve another chance.
He-Man and his burly friends already had one big screen adventure in 1987. Unfortunately, that was several years after He-Mania had cooled. It didn't help that the movie played out more like a half-baked Star Wars clone than a proper He-Man adaptation, or that half of the plot took place on Earth. But despite all of that, Masters of the Universe did just well enough (mainly casting Frank Langella as Skeletor) that we're convinced a great film adaptation is possible.
Much of the appeal with the He-Man universe is the unusual way it blends science fiction and fantasy. You have robots bumping elbows with magicians and heroes wearing fur loincloths and wielding laser guns. Plus, there's the idea that a weak, dorky prince can hold aloft his magic sword and become the most powerful man in the universe. The franchise has developed a very robust mythology over the years, what with the various animated series and comic book projects based on it. There's plenty of material for sequels.
Frank Langella as Skeletor in the 1987 film
Right now, a new He-Man movie is in development at Sony, with Charlie's Angels director McG attached to direct. We talked to McG earlier this summer and he told us, "I think we want to honor the fan base, first and foremost. We also need to be cognizant of the incredible resonance of what Kevin Feige is doing with Marvel, and the balance of full-bodied entertainment. That it's both credible and emotional, action-packed, and the story of a hero's journey. It's the genesis of He-Man, it's the becoming of He-Man. We want it to be clicking on all cylinders in that regard. We're not going to stop until we get it right."
Here's hoping that reboot finally sees the light of day.
The Micronauts franchise predates the big juggernauts of the 1980s action figure scene by a few years, so it's not quite as well-remembered as, say, G.I. Joe or Transformers. But the toys were surprisingly high quality for their time, and thanks to comics from publishers like Marvel and Image, there's a complex mythology behind these microscopic heroes.
Now that Micronauts falls under the Hasbro umbrella, there's been talk of this franchise joining G.I. Joe and Transformers on the big screen. Last year we learned that producer Akiva Goldsman is leading a Hasbro writer's room similar to the one that has been created to expand the Transformers franchise. We'll see if that allows the Micronauts to follow in the footsteps of Transformers and G.I. Joe. But with Micronauts beginning to make a comeback in both toy and comic book form, now seems like the perfect time to go big with these tiny heroes.
Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch to label Dungeons & Dragons a toy property. Dedicated players can bring in figurines and detailed game boards, but all you actually need to play is pen, paper, a few dice and a good dungeon master. But that's the whole point. D&D is a game where anything is possible and players are only limited by their collective imagination.
With all that potential at play, it's disappointing that the previous attempts at bringing D&D to live-action have been so cheap and formulaic. The two sequels to 2000's Dungeons & Dragons never even made it to the big screen. Heck, the TV series Community gave us a much better live-action D&D than New Line Cinema ever did.
As much as audiences love the Lord of the Rings movies and Middle-earth in general, they don't want to see the same, familiar fantasy tropes regurgitated over and over. A good D&D movie needs to embrace that "anything is possible" appeal and run with it. There's a huge amount of pre-existing mythology and popular heroes like Drizzt Do'Urden to draw upon, or the movie can start from scratch and create an entirely new fantasy setting. Either way, a D&D movie needs to offer moviegoers something they haven't seen from all the other blockbuster fantasy epics of the past 15 years.
Read on for more toy franchises that need to be made into movies...
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