The filmmaker who turns toys into gold (or at least at the box office)
It seems that Jon M. Chu loves collecting franchises like they were Happy Meal figurines. After making us cry with Crazy Rich Asians and immersing us in the world of Oz with Wicked, now the director has decided that what the world really needs is… a movie about toy cars? Of course, because if Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that everything deserves a film adaptation, even those little cars you lost under the couch in 1997.
Hot Wheels: the next “Fast and Furious” but with less Dom Toretto and more plastic?
According to insiders (who, let’s be honest, could be Twitter bots with a lot of imagination), Chu is set to direct the live-action Hot Wheels for Mattel, Warner Bros. and Bad Robot. Yes, the same Mattel that brought us Barbie and that now seems hell-bent on turning every toy store shelf into a movie franchise. Next stop? An epic UNO trilogy with unexpected plot twists, I guess.
Screenwriters Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier will have the arduous job of writing a compelling plot about… cars that don’t have drivers? Imaginary circuits? A turf war between Hot Wheels and Matchbox? The possibilities are as endless as the bruises you got as a child when you stepped on one of these little cars scattered on the ground.
Robbie Brenner, Mattel’s chief content officer, declared with corporate enthusiasm: “Jon’s ability to create rich, elaborate worlds with a unique point of view makes him the ideal storyteller to bring Hot Wheels to life.” Translation: “We needed someone who knew how to sell us a toy as if it were ‘The Godfather’ on wheels.”.
The film, produced by Chu, J.J. Abrams and Michael Bostickaspires to be the next big hit in motorsport cinema. Because, of course, what the genre needed was more cars, but this time without real-life actors demanding exorbitant salaries. Who needs Vin Diesel when you have a limited edition Hot Wheels with LED lights?
So get ready, friends. We will soon see if Chu manages to turn this curious bet into a masterpiece or a simple exercise in nostalgia for millennials with a mid-30’s crisis. Meanwhile, I will continue waiting for that epic adaptation of Lego Movie but with the generic bricks that your aunt gave you.
Ready to see Hollywood accelerate towards the absurd? Share this news and join the debate about which toy from your childhood deserves (or doesn’t) its own movie. And if you liked this article, don’t miss our analysis on “Why Hollywood is obsessed with turning your memories into franchises”. Spoiler: the answer is money.
