hasbro Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Hasbro continues their steamrolling of Hollywood with the announcement that J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) is in negotiations to produce a film based on their Micronauts property. The Japanese science-fiction action figure line from Takara was brought to the States in the 1970's by Mego (with some items replicated for the collector's market in 2002 by Palisades), but has kept a pretty low profile since the line's cancellation in 1980.

Most fans are familiar with The Micronauts from the officially licensed Marvel Comic series, which ran throughout the 1980's, long after the toys had vanished from shelves. Image Comics and Devil's Due Publishing both tried their hand at a Micronauts comic book revival during the last decade, but were met with little success.

The original Micronauts figures were an odd-looking assortment of strange heroes and bizarre aliens, and many of the toys featured interchangeable parts. While no over-arching story was created for the toys upon release (marking it as one of the few action figure assortment at the time with no built-in storyline), the comic versions of the Micronauts have positioned the characters as defenders of a microscopic universe, attempting to overthrow the evil Baron Karza.

More over at SciFi Squad

It's as inevitable as the tides. Once something becomes a genuine industry to the tune of a $4 billion dollar marriage, the lawsuits quickly follow. On the heels of the Siegel and Shuster lawsuits that dismantled the world of Clark Kent comes a lawsuit from the estate of Jack Kirby that targets all things Marvel. According to The New York Times, the Kirby heirs have sent 45 notices of copyright infringement to Marvel, Disney, Paramount, Fox, Sony, Universal, Hasbro, and just about everyone else in the world. Kirby created (or co-created alongside Stan Lee) just about all the big Marvel characters so anyone using them must now face the the Kirbys and Toberoff & Associates. (The same law firm that handled the Siegel and Shuster lawsuits, which is no coincidence.)

The Kirbys seek to win the copyrights back to Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc., and claim some (or all) of the profits. If they win back the copyright, it wouldn't kick in until 2014 so presumably they wouldn't be able to claim the "back profits" the characters have made, but anything going forward would be a problem. As Bleeding Cool notes, Disney and Marvel will always own the trademarks, and the movie studios would probably also be safe in their acquisitions, but continuing to publish anything Kirby created would be problematic.

The attorney Marc Toberoff declined to comment on the case, but Disney released an official statement that shrugged off the lawsuit, noting "the notices involved are an attempt to terminate rights 7 to 10 years from now, and involve claims that were fully considered in the acquisition." This will undoubtedly be a case fraught with as many tangles as the Siegel and Shuster suit was. Will Marvel end up owning Iron Man's armor, but the Kirbys will own Tony Stark and Pepper Potts? Will it create problems for Marvel Studios down the line? We shall watch and see.

Last year, lovers of good cinema worldwide were baffled by what seemed to be a sign of the end times, as Hasbro and Universal teamed up to develop movies from popular board games and lured directors like Ridley Scott in to helm them. Now, Variety reports that Battleship moves closer to production with director Peter Berg at the helm, and is aiming for a release date of July 1, 2011.

Berg describes Battleship as "a contemporary story of an international five-ship fleet engaged in a very dynamic, violent and intense battle" but wouldn't name what country is supplying the enemies of the piece. He's very enthusiastic about the project, noting that he's always wanted to pit ship against ship, navy against navy. "I've been consumed with doing one of these since I tried to convince Tom Rothman at Fox to make a film about John Paul Jones, the founder of the American Navy. As a kid, I was dragged from Navy museum to museum, and spent so much time on ships, listening to my father talk about the great battles of WWII, I did my high school thesis on the Battle of Midway. When this came up, it didn't take me long to find a take for a film that is filled with raucous action-packed naval battles."

If you love ceramic elephants and famous people, and you'd like to help fight Africa's AIDS epidemic, then get out your checkbook. A number of high-profile celebrities, including George Clooney, Glenn Close, Hugh Jackman and Denzel Washington, have agreed to scribble their names on ceramic elephants to raise funds for Project Zambi, a charity dedicated to raising awareness and funding programs that care for African children orphaned by AIDS.

The organization was started by Hasbro employees, who were inspired by the Chikumbuso Women and Orphans Project in Zambia. They created "Zambi the Elephant," sending a textile artist to Zambia to teach art workshops and get input from the children there on the design of the Zambi stuffed toy, which wiggles its ears, raises its trunk and makes happy sounds when you tickle its chest. The toy retails for $49.99 and Hasbro has committed 50 percent of the toy's net profits, with a minimum of $500,000, to Project Zambi.

In an interview over on Collider, Frosty spoke with Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner at a G.I. Joe screening and he covered the movies that the company has in development. In many ways it mirrored what our own Jessica Barnes wrote about back in March. Hasbro clearly isn't content to sit back and dive into the coffers filled with money from the Transformers movies, which will likely swell even further when G.I. Joe is released this weekend. They aren't just licensing their toys for film development (Stretch Armstrong is slated to be a movie in 2011), it now looks like they'll be tossing their entire board game range into the mix.

You've probably heard that Ridley Scott is developing Monopoly into a movie, as hard as that is to believe, but according to Goldner that will be joined by Candy Land and Battleship. Battleship!? Really? A movie based around Battleship? As much as I strained my brain to try and figure out how Ridley Scott could make Monopoly into a compelling film, Battleship just makes my grey matter give up abandon ship. You might as well make Connect Four into a movie. Everyone would be on the edge of their seats waiting for the "Pretty sneaky, sis." line.

Saying that the iconic toy Stretch Armstrong "is a character I have wanted to see on screen for a long time," Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer announced that he'll be producing, yes, Stretch Armstrong, the movie. The project is slated to be the first production resulting in a six-year partnership deal between Universal Pictures and Hasbro. The film already has a release date of April 15, 2011 in place.

A popular toy that debuted in the 1970's then was remade and relaunched in the mid 90's, Stretch Armstrong is notable because he really doesn't do anything other than, well, stretch. He's sort of an uncomfortably muscular version of those Martian Popping Thing stress-relievers, with freakish arms that can be yanked out of proportion without tearing off. It's the perfect toy for destructive little boys, and for budding sadists-in-training.

When I say "Platinum Dunes," you probably think "horror remake" -- which only makes sense since PD is the production company that brought you The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hitcher, and The Amityville Horror. (Plus they also have Friday the 13th and The Birds on the way.) But it sure looks like Platinum bosses Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller are trying to deliver some (relatively) original product. They've already got David Goyer's The Unborn in production ... and now they're signed up to deliver Ouija Board: The Movie. (title not official)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ouija will hit the big screen courtesy of Platinum Dunes, Universal Pictures, Hasbro, and producer / screenwriter David Berenbaum. (His credits include Elf and The Spiderwick Chronicles.) No director has been named yet, and the top secret premise is being described as "a supernatural adventure..." I smell a PG-13 horror flick.

All I know is I hope it's better than Witchboard.

Looking to get in on the -- well -- game, Universal has partnered with Hasbro to develop feature films based on at least four of their branded properties. Those include Monopoly, Candy Land, Clue, Ouija, Battleship, Magic, the Gathering and Stretch Armstrong. The move comes after Paramount snatched up Transformers and G.I. Joe, which means neither is part of this new deal. There's already been talk that Ridley Scott will direct a film based on the Monopoly board game, and the director even spoke about it recently -- but the others are all completely up in the air as of now.

Out of these, I could honestly see a very cute Wonka-ish film coming from Candy Land, and Stretch Armstrong could be fun if it was developed as a comedy for someone like, say, Jim Carrey. Clue was already made into a film, so the framework is there, and Battleship could go a number of different ways (though ship movies never seem to excite us all that much unless Leo DiCaprio is involved). I don't know much about Magic, the Gathering, except that it's very popular and would probably entice the teen audience, and Ouija could go either the comedic route or the haunting thriller route. As much as I'd like to trash this entire deal, fact is I really can see some potential in these games, assuming they bring onboard the right talent, the right director and the right creative minds.

What about you? Which game could you see becoming the next big motion picture?

I don't know who in their right mind would want to play with this ugly thing, but hey -- some kids are just a tad warped these days. Yes, Hasbro has released images of their new Cloverfield monster toy -- and I guess the good part is that it finally gives us a great look at the monster, seeing as we didn't get a whole lot from the actual film. Even from looking at it up close, I still can't figure out where the filmmakers came up with this creature. While I definitely spot traces of the Predator, this thing is completely and totally unique. So I give them that. Here's what you get for a whopping $100 (oh yes -- throw the words 'limited edition' in front of something, and you can charge whatever you like):

• 70 points of articulation and incredible life-like detail
• Authentic sound
• 14" tall
• 10 parasites
• Two interchangeable heads
• Statue of Liberty head accessory
• Special Cloverfield collector's edition packaging

Is it just me, or is that Statue of Liberty head taking it a bit too far? Anyway, you can purchase this ... thing ... from the Hasbro site, and you'll definitely have to let us know what your dinner guests think of it. We've included a couple more images after the jump, so enjoy!

SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP -- CLOVERFIELD MONSTER REVEALED -- DO NOT CLICK IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT!!!

[via Coming Soon]