MAJOR MATT MASON Film to star Tom Hanks!

Now here is a film that really speaks to the geek in me. 'Major Matt Mason' is a vintage 1966 Mattel action figure that will be adapted into a movie. The Film is being developed at Universal Pictures with Tom Hanks as the title character role. Graham Yost will write the script. This could turn out to be a great Sci-Fi film.

I love toys and I grew up around them and their history. So now its time for a little toy history lesson to prep you for what to possibly expect from the movie.



Major Matt Mason was an astronaut who lived and worked on the moon. When introduced in 1966, the figures were initially based on design information found in Life Magazine, Air Force Magazine, Jane's, and other aviation, and space-interest periodicals. Later, the line would attempt to transition into the realm of science fiction.



The toy system included four astronaut action figures, sharing a common body molded of a rubber-like material over a wire armature, with a separately-attached head and a removable space helmet based on early NASA helmets. Mason had a dark brown crew cut and a white suit; Sgt. Storm had blond hair and a red suit; civilian astronaut Doug Davis had a yellow suit and brown hair; Lt. Jeff Long was African-American, with a blue suit (a decade before Guion Bluford became the first American black man to orbit the Earth). First-year Mason figures produced in 1966 are identified by the blue straps on his space-suit. These straps were painted black in later years.



Also in the toy-line were a three-story "space station" (actually a moon base), various lunar surface and flying vehicles, mostly battery powered; and various accessories, variously powered by springs, pneumatics, strings, or batteries. What made the early run of the accessories appealing was that the designs were based directly on concepts promoted and demonstrated by NASA and the various contractors involved in America's "Race to the Moon" in the 1960s. The "Moon Suit" and the "Space Station", as well as the "Jet Pack" were actually seen as concept drawings in such magazines as Look and Life. The laser weapons were copied from designs of science fiction shows of the time.

Major Matt Mason was retired in 1970.

Variety reports:

When Mattel execs Tim Kilpin and Barry Waldo came to Playtone for a meeting, they brought an arsenal of the Matt Mason figures. Hanks came armed with his own.

Yost's script credits include "Speed." He and Hanks explored moon matter when Hanks was an executive producer of the HBO mini "From the Earth to the Moon," with Yost serving as supervising producer and writer of two episodes. Yost has also been a writer or producer for Hanks and Goetzman on the Playtone-produced HBO minis "Band of Brothers," "John Adams" and "The Pacific."

I will be keeping a close eye on the developments of this project because I am excited about it and it could end up being a great film in the end.