After the success of Barbie last summer, the question has very much been when and not if we would be seeing more movies based on popular Mattel toylines. And sure enough, in the weeks following the fuchsian fable’s release, films based on Barney, Polly Pocket, Hot Wheels, and, er, the Magic 8 Ball amongst many others were all revealed to be in the works. Now, as casting news continues to pour in for Amazon’s upcoming live-action Masters Of The Universe movie, we’re getting word on another cinematic dive into the Mattel toy box that’s on its way. Per THR‘s reporting, WWE superstar and Jackpot! actor John Cena is set to lead Apple Original offering Matchbox, a live-action take on the classic metal automobiles.
Whilst there’s no word as of yet on what shape Matchbox‘s story is set to take, or indeed who John Cena will play in the movie (please be a car, please be a car, please be a car), we do know who’s under the hood and creatively spearheading the project. Extraction director Sam Hargrave is the man tasked with steering Matchbox to our screens, whilst David Coggeshall (The Deliverance) and Jonathan Trooper (The Adam Project) are tuning up the screenplay for the 71-year-old brand’s big screen debut. What’s more, Mattel Films and Skydance are working with Apple to produce the petrolhead picture, so it wouldn’t be too harebrained to theorise that this is probably heading more towards high-octane actioner territory than small-scale indie drama.
As for Matchbox‘s leading man, having starred as Jakob Toretto in the Fast franchise Cena — who’s currently got his hands full filming Peacemaker Season 2 with James Gunn — is no stranger to putting the pedal to the metal on screen. Plus, as a long-time (and soon retiring) alum of World Wrestling Entertainment, Cena has also enjoyed the unique experience being a toy too thanks to the hundreds of action figures that exist of the one-time Doctor of Thuganomics. Whether Matchbox will be a die-cast doozy or a rust bucket of a blockbuster however, only time will tell. One thing’s for sure however: don’t expect Mattel to be putting their toys back in the box any time soon. Bring on the Real Steel style Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em movie we say!