The last we heard, Hasbro’s plans for a movie based on the classic Kenner toyline M.A.S.K. had been scrapped. Now, it seems like that’s not the case—because the director behind Fate of the Furious, F. Gary Gray, has been tapped to bring the series to theaters.
Deadline reports that Gray—who is also in talks to direct the Men in Black quasi-reboot starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson—has closed a deal with Paramount and Hasbro to bring the multimedia M.A.S.K. franchise to life. The series followed the members of the titular Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (look, it was the ‘80s) and their leader, Matt Trakker, as they hunted down the hilariously named Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem in their fleet of transforming combat vehicles.
Like Transformers before it, it’s a great idea for a kid’s toy line and a tentpole action flick—and you might as well get the director behind one of the biggest-earning vehicular action movies of all time to help turn it into one. Still, M.A.S.K. seems like a strange choice to truly kick off Hasbro’s plans for an interconnected universe based on its own brands in earnest.
[Deadline]
