Tag: tom hanks

After Barbie, Mattel Is Launching Its Own Cinematic Universe With 14 Movies: Report

Fresh off Barbie’s box office success, manufacturer Mattel, which owns the Barbie brand, is reportedly looking to expand on its IP with 14 new feature films, all in different stages of production. As per Variety, they include a surrealistic Barney movie, Lena Dunham’s take on Polly Pocket, a Hot Wheels movie produced by J.J. Abrams, and more. The Mattel executives are also keen to do sequels to Greta Gerwig’s candy-coated film, though the filmmaker isn’t thinking about a follow-up for now, claiming, “At this moment, it’s all I’ve got.” Then again, seeing the impressive $337 million (about Rs. 2,763 crore) it made during the opening weekend, it’s not hard to imagine that Warner Bros. and Mattel will want more.

The Variety report notes that producer Robbie Brenner, who currently leads Mattel Films, was hoping for Barbie to succeed, so they could bank on potential sequels and new projects based on established IP. This echoes the newly-appointed CEO Ynon Kreiz’s plan from 2018 when Mattel’s sales were dwindling, where he wanted to turn the toy company into a franchise composed of films, TV series, and theme parks — much like Disney. Their first step towards that goal seems to have paid off, with the Barbie movie outselling Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, both having released on the same day.

Reports from earlier this month confirmed Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya (Nope) would be producing and starring in an adult-oriented ‘A24-type‘ film based on Barney, the friendly purple dinosaur from the children’s TV show Barney & Friends. Mattel executives claimed that it won’t be R-rated, but the themes would lean more towards an adult’s taste, featuring a ‘surrealistic’ take that’s similar to films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation — from the brilliant minds of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. Speaking to Variety, producer Brenner claimed that the film will be about ‘identity and finding who you love and who feels alienated.’

The miniature-sized Polly Pocket is another toy brand that Mattel plans to turn into a movie, albeit it doesn’t have as big of a brand recognition as Barbie. Lena Dunham (Girls) will write and direct the movie, which stars Lily Collins (Emily in Paris, Mank) in the lead role. The film is still in its early stages, with producer Brenner claiming that a ‘great’ script was turned in. Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III) will produce a movie based on the Hot Wheels toy line, which is being described as ‘grounded and gritty’ with emotional characters that the audience will be able to relate to. Warner Bros. will be distributing it and since Abrams is involved, you might as well factor in some lens flare.

Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel is looking to delve into robots soon, with a feature film adaptation of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, the tabletop boxing game from Mattel that pits a red and a blue fighter against each other, as you mash away at joysticks attached to the ring. Ryan Engle — best known for Rampage — is writing the script. A He-Man live-action adaptation has been in the works for a long time, with Netflix cancelling ‘Masters of the Universe‘ just last week. Mattel is still looking for a new buyer for He-Man though, which it believes has the potential to explode into a ‘mega-franchise’. The now-cancelled film was to be directed by Aaron and Adam Nee (The Lost City) and featured West Side Story’s Kyle Allen as the lead actor.

Tom Hanks (The Terminal) is set to appear as the Mattel astronaut figurine Major Matt Mason, who lived and worked on the moon, attracting screenwriters Akiva Goldsman (I, Robot) and Michael Chabon (Star Trek: Picard). Thanks to the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood, it will be a while before the production moves forward. The company is also planning a PG-13 thriller surrounding the Magic 8 Ball, which was used as a fortune-telling toy back in the 1950s. And if that wasn’t absurd enough already, Mattel will also make a movie based on the UNO card game, which is being written by Marcy Kelly.

Mattel doesn’t seem to be done with dolls yet and wants to explore an American Girl movie for its expansive ‘Mattelverse.’ As per Variety, the film will be a family comedy that’s aimed at helping young girls ‘grow with confidence and develop character.’ Even Thomas & Friends is getting a fantasy film adaptation, directed by Marc Forster, who rose to prominence with World War Z and Finding Neverland. Amidst this exhaustive list, Mattel is also adapting a true story for the screen. Titled ‘Christmas Balloon,’ the film follows a young girl, who tied her Christmas present list to a balloon and sent it up into the air, only to be found by a grieving couple who work with the toy company to make her wishes come true. Gabby Lugo (A Million Little Things) is attached to write the screenplay.

Here’s the entire list of movies Mattel has planned for the foreseeable future. Bear in mind that production might take some time, given the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes in Hollywood.

Barney — produced by and starring Daniel Kaluuya

Polly Pocket — from Lena Dunham, starring Lily Collins

Hot Wheels — produced by J.J. Abrams

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots — starring Vin Diesel

American Girl — a family comedy

Magic 8 Ball — a PG-13 thriller

Masters of the Universe — previously cancelled by Netflix

Major Matt Mason — from Akiva Goldsman and Michael Chabon, starring Tom Hanks

UNO — written by Marcy Kelly

Wishbone — produced by Peter Farrelly (Dumb & Dumber)

Matchbox — written by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill)

Thomas & Friends — from Marc Forster (World War Z)

View Master — an adventure film based on the classic picture-viewing toy

Christmas Balloon — from Gabby Lugo; based on a true story

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Cannes 2023: Wes Anderson Says Pandemic Lockdown Helped Inspire Asteroid City

Wes Anderson‘s new film puts Westerns, theatre, 1950s Americana, and an alien into a blender for another of his atypical — and star-packed — concoctions that he says is about “reckoning with forces beyond your control”.

As always, Asteroid City, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, features a roster of actors that reads like a Hollywood phonebook. Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, and Margot Robbie — newcomers to the Anderson family — join past collaborators Scarlett Johansson and Edward Norton and regulars like Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Tilda Swinton in the film.

The one-of-a-kind director never seems too influenced by events in the real world, but he told AFP the COVID-19 pandemic did have an impact. “This movie is certainly informed by the most bizarre viral moment in recent history,” he said. “Writing it during this pandemic, in the middle of the most locked-down lockdown, we were not sure we would ever go out again — so I think that’s sorta in it.”

Hanks is ‘intimidating’

Asteroid City is a bizarre and knotty tale set in a remote desert town where a group of child geniuses are gathered for a science competition that is interrupted by an alien visitor, leaving them locked up in quarantine. But in typically convoluted Anderson form, the desert story is presented as a play being performed in New York.

Anderson says he wanted to pay homage to actors, who remain something of a mystery to him, even after working with the biggest names in the business. “Many of the actors are my friends now, but nevertheless they are different on set,” Anderson said. “Actors recognise something in each other that normal people don’t go through — this thing of being the one who everyone is going to watch. It has this interesting strange effect. It became part of what the movie is about.”

Working with Hanks was a joy, he told AFP, though he was initially nervous. “He’s a wonderful actor but also a huge movie star… it’s intimidating.”

“But his manner on set is: you suggest something and he says ‘Sorry, I should have thought of that.’ That encourages you to be better because you’re empowered by this person with such an aura.”

Scarlett’s smokey voice

One person who is glaringly absent is Bill Murray, who has appeared in all of Anderson’s films since Rushmore in 1998. “Bill was cast in a part but then he got Covid three days before we were supposed to shoot,” said Anderson. “We replaced him very quickly with the wonderful Steve Carell who was great.”

Luckily, Murray’s health improved to come hang out on set for the last of the shoot, he added, and Carell turns in a hilarious cameo as a hotel owner.

What Anderson often loves most about his actors is their voice, something he discovered when he cast George Clooney as the lead in the animated film Fantastic Mr Fox. “Only when I recorded George did I realise how much it’s about his voice. And that kinda applies to the majority of actors — so much depends on the voice.”

Johansson, who did voiceover for Anderson’s Isle of Dogs (2018) “has this wonderful, slightly smokey voice,” he said. Arguably, no director has ever had a style that is so immediately recognisable as Anderson’s: the symmetrical playhouse-like sets, bright colours, deadpan irony. He can’t help it.

“There’s a way I do scenes that is just me,” he said. “It’s more like a condition than a choice.”

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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‘Big’ star says family stopped him becoming a spoiled child actor

David Moscow says his family set a lot of “boundaries” so he never got too “Big” for his britches.

The actor, who nabbed the part of the young Tom Hanks in “Big” at age 12, wasn’t allowed to get too spoiled by the experience.

“My parents were very aware of what was going on,” Moscow, 47, tells Page Six, “and I had a lot of rules, a lot of boundaries. “If I wanted to keep acting, I needed to get A’s in school and that kind of thing.”

David Moscow reveals how he didn’t become a spoiled child star.
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Moscow, who grew up in New York City, adds, “I think I was protected from a lot of wildness because growing up in the city can be pretty crazy. You get on the subway at 8 a.m., you don’t come home, until, you know, 7 at night. A lot of trouble can happen in there!”

The “Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane” star also shares that any female attention he got around at that age was ignored.

“At 12, you don’t really know what (to do) with girls,” he jokes. “You know, they may like you but you’re like, ‘What? What do we do now?’”

And any extra attention he may have garnered starring in the blockbuster comedy was lost at his school.

Moscow also starred in the series, “Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane.”
©Touchstone Television/Courtesy

“I went to school in Harlem,” he explains. “If you weren’t a basketball player on the basketball team, they didn’t really care. So in a sense, that was kind of cool as well. I was low-key in my high school.”

Moscow is currently promoting his new book, “From Scratch: Adventures in Harvesting, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging on a Fragile Planet,” which he co-wrote with his father, Jon.

Moscow appeared opposite Christian Bale in “Newsies”.
©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy

In it, he recounts the four years he spent on global culinary adventures that included milking a water buffalo in Italy, harvesting oysters in the Long Island Sound and extracting honey from wild bees in Kenya.

Initially, the “Newsies” star says that he was “looking for a sort of connectively among people … everyone’s connected via food” but soon realized that looking into how food is produced is also a “glimpse into what’s going on regarding the environment. Particularly around overfishing and climate change.”

Moscow co-wrote “From Scratch” with his father, Jon.
Instagram/davidraphaelmoscow

Moscow says that the book is a “lot of fun” but also has a serious side.

“There’s a lot of amazing discussions in the book about people that are doing things correctly,” he says.

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