Following the success of Transformers, toys are the new comic books, with every studio trying to get in on the game of adapting action figures and board games for the big screen. Everything from Masters Of The Universe and Hot Wheels to Monopoly, Cluedo and Battleship are in the works, and the latest one to get announced is Max Steel.
The main difference between Max Steel and the rest is that anyone older than about 15 won’t have a clue who he is. The character was launched as an action figure line and CG TV series in 2000, but never really took off (although apparently he’s still big in Latin America). It’s perhaps Max’s lack of popularity that’s made Mattel so keen on making a movie out of the extreme sports fan turned supherhuman spy, hoping that a film will give Max the worldwide fandom that’s so far alluded him.
Well, Paramount seems to have bitten, agreeing to develop a live action movie version of the character. Mattel and producer Joe Roth are currently looking for a director and screenwriter who will work with them to put a film together that both works for the screen and provides plenty of opportunity for toy tie-ins.
While there’s nothing wrong with making movies based on toys, it does seem that now that the toy companies have cottoned on to the potential on their character, the movies based on them are increasingly becoming giant adverts for the toys. It’s one of the things that hampered Transformers 2, as it was apparent that the script was jumping through hoops to squeeze in all the toys Hasbro had planned. Perhaps this won’t be the case with Max Steel, but it doesn’t appear that making a great movie is their top priority.