Even before Barbie became one of 2023’s biggest films, Mattel made very clear it would like to give its other various toys the big screen treatment. Next in line to hit theaters is the Matchbox toy cars, whose adaptation picked up John Cena as its main lead back in September, and now has some more stars entering the fray.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel’s Teyonah Parris and I Think You Should Leave’s Sam Richardson have joined the film’s cast, ditto Arturo Castro (Road House), according to Deadline. The trio are the newest cast additions following Jessica Biel signing on back in November. Production’s expected to kick up in January, and according to the outlet, the film will be an “action-packed, globetrotting adventure” helmed by Extraction director Sam Hargrave. Plot-wise, it centers on a group of childhood friends who’ve reunited as adults to save the planet from a potential worldwide disaster, which will help help them rekindle those old bonds. Might the point of all this be that…the real Matchbox was the friends we raced along the way?
Jokes aside, this can’t help but sound a bit like Fast & Furious, even without Cena likely being the top-billed star. Maybe that’s just unavoidable; Matchbox toys have taken on various forms over the decades, from slot cars and large die-cast models to plastic kit and action figures, but there isn’t a solid core identity beyond “cars.” As such, a movie based on it could be about basically anything, including a rival franchise with a bit more of a disaster movie bent. Still, you gotta wonder what this means for the Hot Wheels movie Mattel’s trying to get going with J.J. Abrams. Is it also going to crib from the Fast movies, or take a new track?
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