According to Variety Paramount Pictures and Joe Roth are partnering up to bring the Mattel action figure Max Steel to the big screen.The toy follows a 19-year-old extreme sports junkie who gets picked by a secret agency when his body is taken over by nanobots and he becomes superhuman.
Mattel brought out the character as an action figure in the U.S. in 1999, and it followed that with an animated series that played from 2000-2002. This character gained a lot of traction in Latin America, where Max Steel, in that region, is the No. 1 action figure. Mattel made multiple animated direct-to-DVD features for that market
Mattel hopes that movies can relaunch the toy line in the U.S. and elsewhere.
"A theatrical film plays a significant role to relaunch the franchise," stated Mattel's Vice President of worldwide entertainment marketing and strategy, Barry Waldo. "But we have a strong Latin consumer we're going to keep happy while broadening the franchise for the rest of the world. We wouldn't do ourselves a favor if we turned a blind eye to it. That's the artistic challenge we've got."
Roth is serving as an executive producer on the project.
Currently, Mattel and Roth are looking for a screenwriter and director. The plan is for them to work closely with Mattel to create characters and a storyline that match what the company hopes to do with the property.
Max Steel marks the first film that Mattel has put together at Paramount since it started looking to turn it's toys into big screen vehicles.
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