“After a Long Drought, the Toy Chest Is Up for Grabs”
Some informative articles from The Wrap about Hwood’s obsession with toy movies. Here’s the first one:
As the “Transformers” franchise demolished records at the box office this summer, toymakers and major studios were busy announcing an onslaught of iconic toys and games slated to hit the big screen in the coming year.
If “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’s” $200 million opening — and the $56 million opening of Paramount’s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra” — are any indication, audiences are hungry for films based on toy brands.
Hollywood is ready to feed that hunger, with A-list directors on big-budget projects.
Ridley Scott has been tapped to direct a film based on Monopoly for Universal. The studio is also lining up films based around Candyland, Battleship and Ouija.
And DreamWorks is even developing a film based on the 3D picture-disc View-Master.
Here is a shocking number:
The original “Transformers’ banked $708 million globally, and “Revenge of the Fallen” already has scored an even more impressive $811 million.
$811M! And after all those crappy reviews!
Another article that details some of the projects in development:
Toy: “Monopoly”
Studio: Universal
Toy: View-Master
Studio: DreamWorks
Toy: “Max Steel”
Studio: Paramount
Toy: “Asteroids”
Studio: Universal
Toy:”He-Man and Masters of the Universe”
Studio: Warner Bros.
Toy: “Major Matt Mason”
Studio: Universal
And a final article on Hasbro’s point person SVP Bennet Schnier:
Why do viewers like films about toys?
While you’re in that movie theater, those toys are real and once the movie works, all the nostalgia for the toys and all the emotional connections are there. For me, I spent countless hours on the floor playing with those things in the ’80s, and I watched the TV show. When the movie works, it’s because the toy or the game has a very strong emotional connection with a very large part of the audience. They’ve spent countless hours playing with it. Guys who grew up on “Transformers” in the 80s — and boy, were they out there for their movie — a lot of them were fathers and wanted to introduce it to their sons, like, “You’ve gotta see this.’” The icing on the cake is the movie.
Here’s another reason why Hwood loves toy movies: Since the toys are the ‘stars’ of the movie, A-level actors and directors aren’t as important, which drives drown their quote.
In other words, toy movies are good for Hwood economics for two reasons: Big box office and ancillary revenues, and decreased salaries to talent.
I’ll follow up in my next post with an analysis of Hwood’s toy movie lust by A.O. Scott in the New York Times yesterday.
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