Paramount Players have teamed up with Hasbro for an all-new action hero feature – one that no one asked for – based on Hasbro’s toy Action Man. They have set Alice Through the Looking Glass director, James Bobin, to take the helm.
The project is set to be a bit of a British affair as Paddington’s Simon Farnaby has also been hired to pen the screenplay. Hasbro will produce.
Action Man is an action figure launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro’s American “movable fighting man” G.I. Joe.
Action Man was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Coalville, Leicestershire from 1966 until 1984 (Palitoy also offered sub-licences to various toy manufacturers in various markets).
At the New York Comic Con 2011, Hasbro released a comic book called ‘UNIT E’ that featured comic strips of several toy lines that Hasbro is well known for and are bringing back. Among them, was a new iteration of Action Man. However, the comic was produced as a “brainstorming” concept, and the comic’s introduction specifically noted that NONE of the concepts within the book were guaranteed to ever see production or release.
We can’t help thinking, in the current climate, the move to even make this film will be a disastrous decision.
