Mattel Films are looking to build on the blockbuster success of Barbie by revving up production on their Matchbox movie, and have done so by casting John Cena in the lead.
According to Deadline the live-action feature film based on the die-cast toy vehicle brand will be produced by Skydance and Mattel Films as an Apple Original Film.
The film is being helmed by Extraction director Sam Hargrave, who will work from a script written by David Coggeshall (The Family Plan) and Jonathan Tropper (The Adam Project).
Matchbox is a line of toys first introduced by Lesney Products in 1953, and was subsequently purchased by Mattel Inc. in 1997. The name derives from the original die-cast vehicles, which were sold in packages of a similar size to the boxes in which matches were sold. The brand expanded to include a broad range of vehicular toys, such as plastic model kits, slot car racing, and action figures. To this day, the marketing would have you believe that two Matchbox cars are sold every second somewhere in the world.
Mattel are currently developing big-screen toy brand adaptations of Polly Pocket, Monster High, and Barney among others. Cena meanwhile will be looking to add more projects to his schedule following the recent announcement of his WWE farewell tour in 2025. The Peacemaker star was last seen starring in Amazon comedies Jackpot and Ricky Stanicky.
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