In the week that Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the rights to the Risk board game from Hasbro. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hasbro is rebooting the Micronauts and JJ Abrams is at the helm of a new film franchise.
During Hasbro’s 2009 Fall Investor Day Event held today at their headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the company announced the re-introduction of the classic toy line Micronauts originally created by Japanese company Takara, in 1974, under the name Microman. Microman evolved out of Hasbro's G.I. Joe and would later morph into one of the most successful toy lines ever. The Transformers.
Microman was rebranded as the Micronauts and launched in 1977 by, the now defunct, Mego in the United States and Airfix in the UK. Ironically, Mego passed on Star Wars and would compete for shelf space that Christmas.
Backed by a Marvel comic series, in 1979, the Micronauts were a short-lived phenomenon, that attained a cult following and resurrected, briefly, by Palisades Toys, in 2002.
Abrams told the Wall Street Journal that those who doubt whether a board game or science fiction toy should be accorded star status will be proved wrong.
"Sometimes, when someone is not a celebrity and you are casting them in a role, everyone who is in a seat of authority voices questions about that actor's talent, sex appeal, looks, ability -- their everything," he says. "But then they get the role, and suddenly they are on the cover of every magazine, and nobody questions those things again. In retrospect, everyone says, 'Of course that person is a star.'"
Cherished childhood memories mean I can't wait to see the adventures of Acroyear and Baron Karza on the big screen! However, is it a toy tie-in too far? Is Hollywood so starved of story ideas, and risk-averse, that it's now looking to the aisles of Toys "R" Us? What do you think?
During Hasbro’s 2009 Fall Investor Day Event held today at their headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the company announced the re-introduction of the classic toy line Micronauts originally created by Japanese company Takara, in 1974, under the name Microman. Microman evolved out of Hasbro's G.I. Joe and would later morph into one of the most successful toy lines ever. The Transformers.
Microman was rebranded as the Micronauts and launched in 1977 by, the now defunct, Mego in the United States and Airfix in the UK. Ironically, Mego passed on Star Wars and would compete for shelf space that Christmas.
Backed by a Marvel comic series, in 1979, the Micronauts were a short-lived phenomenon, that attained a cult following and resurrected, briefly, by Palisades Toys, in 2002.
Abrams told the Wall Street Journal that those who doubt whether a board game or science fiction toy should be accorded star status will be proved wrong.
"Sometimes, when someone is not a celebrity and you are casting them in a role, everyone who is in a seat of authority voices questions about that actor's talent, sex appeal, looks, ability -- their everything," he says. "But then they get the role, and suddenly they are on the cover of every magazine, and nobody questions those things again. In retrospect, everyone says, 'Of course that person is a star.'"
Cherished childhood memories mean I can't wait to see the adventures of Acroyear and Baron Karza on the big screen! However, is it a toy tie-in too far? Is Hollywood so starved of story ideas, and risk-averse, that it's now looking to the aisles of Toys "R" Us? What do you think?
