“If you try hard enough, any popular line of toys can be turned into a successful cinematic franchise.” - Old Hollywood proverb.
Even though we’ve already got plenty of movies about cars that are more or less designed to be ads encouraging kids to go out and buy little plastic versions of said cars (hey, Cars and Transformers), that’s not stopping Mattel and Warner Bros. from throwing their hats into the ring with a Hot Wheels movie.
Variety reports that Mattel Films intends to move forward with a live-action film focused on the best-selling toy in the world, and while there are no details about what this film might actually focus on, one imagines that there’ll be...cars that drive very fast on wildly dangerous tracks that loop around a lot? Here’s the corporate speak from Mattel’s chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz:
We are excited to bring the thrill of a Hot Wheels live-action feature film to the big screen in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. Mattel Films has great momentum as it continues to execute on our commitment to bring global audiences new ways to experience the brands they love as we transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company.
The Hot Wheels announcement comes on the heels of Mattel and WB announcing a Margot Robbie-led live-action Barbie movie. That seems like a much more practical project for the studios to tackle given how Barbie, as a character, exists within a much more fully-realized world and has an actual personality. Hot Wheels cars, on the other hand, are just cars.
Silly as the idea of a Hot Wheels movie may seem, the brand is particularly strong, and Mattel Films might have an honest to goodness solid concept that surprises everyone. Or this could go down as being another example of studios trying to make movies that nobody really asked for.
For more, make sure you’re following us on our new Instagram @io9dotcom.