Paramount Pictures is teaming with Joe Roth to pick up Mattel’s “Max Steel” as another action figure it wants to play with on the big screen. On August 7, the studio will release G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
The toy property revolves around a 19-year-old extreme sports junkie recruited by a secret agency after an accident infects his body with nanobots, making him superhuman.
Mattel introduced the character in the U.S. in 1999 as an action figure, and soon after in an animated series that ran from 2000-2002. Max Steel is Latin America’s No. 1 action figure.
But Mattel wants to use movies as a way to relaunch the toy line in the U.S. and the rest of the world, the way the “Transformers” pics have helped generate new heat around Hasbro’s action figures.
Mattel and Roth are seeking a screenwriter and director, who will work closely with the toymaker to develop the film’s characters and storyline to match the company’s plans for the franchise.
