MAX STEEL Action Figure Will See Big Screen Action
Paramount Pictures is bring yet another Mattel action figure to the big screen, Max Steel. If Stephen Sommers was to direct any movie based on an action figure this should have been the one, not G.I. Joe. With Steel he could have got away with all of the crazy crap he is doing with G.I. Joe because no one really cares about Max Steel. I'm sure we had a couple Max Steel action figures around the house while I was growing up.
Max Steel is a 19 year old extreme sports junkie recruited by a secret agency after an accident infects his body with nanobots, making him superhuman. Sounds like this is the role that Channing Tatum should have had, instead of Duke.
The 12-inch action figure came out back in 1999, then it was turned into an awful animated series which ran for a couple seasons, and then went on to direct to DVD movies. I don't thin the property caught on like Mattel was hoping it would. Even back then it just seemed like a phase. But they are now looking to re-launch the toy line, and what better wat to do this than with a new movie!? Variety reports:
"A theatrical film plays a significant role to relaunch the franchise," said Barry Waldo, Mattel's VP of worldwide entertainment marketing and strategy. "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."
Joe Roth will be producing the film, he has helped develop Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland at Disney, and produced Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. One of the reasons Mattel likes Roth though was because he was a producer that helped launch the XXX franchise, which they are comparing Max Steel to. So that's that type of movie you can expect Max Steel to be.
I wish they would have made this film before G.I. Joe because then Stephen Sommers and Channing Tatum would have been tied up in this leaving G.I. Joe open for a better director, and a better Duke. I'm just sayin'.
As much as I love toys, I was never a Max Steel fan, so I could care less about it. At the same time, watch it turn out being a better movie than G.I. Joe rise of Cobra.
Care to share your thoughts?
Source: Variety