Skydance and Mattel take Matchbox to the big screen

The partners are developing a live-action movie based on the popular toy vehicle franchise that originated in the 1950s.
July 19, 2022

LA’s Skydance Media (Top Gun: Maverick) is teaming up with Mattel to adapt classic toy brand Matchbox as a live-action movie.

The project will be led by Elizabeth Bassin and Andrew Scannell for Mattel, with Skydance oversight from David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger and Aimee Rivera. A screenplay is being penned by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill), but there’s no release date set yet.

Created in 1953 by Jack Odell, Matchbox features plastic and die-cast vehicles and playsets. The evergreen toy franchise had sold more than three billion units by the 2000s, five decades since its launch. Today, “one Matchbox car is sold every second,” according to Mattel.

Mattel Films has a live-action Barbie movie in production, as well as pics based on brands such as American Girl, Barney, Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket, Thomas & Friends and Masters of the Universe in development.

Speaking of which, Mattel is also launching a new range of cross-branded toys that feature both Masters of the Universe and video game Fall Guys, which was developed by UK studio Mediatonic.

Sold in multipacks, the line features Fall Guys characters dressed like He-Man, Skeletor, Teela and Battle Cat. And each character will be accompanied by a unique accessory, such as a sword or staff.

The figures will be available for presale this fall on Mattel Creations, the toyco’s D2C platform. They’ll also be previewed at San Diego Comic-Con International next week (July 21 to 24).

The product reveal for this Mattel/Fall Guys collaboration follows on the heels of another toy crossover between an ’80s classic and a  fan-favorite new brand. Earlier this month, Netflix and Hong Kong-based Playmates Toys announced a new action figure range that brings together the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with characters from Netflix’s hit live-action series Stranger Things.

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