After his role in the first two Twilight movies, teen heartthrob Taylor Lautner has been in demand with studios and filmmakers in every direction. With the ever increasing number of projects the now 18 year old actor (female Twilighters rejoice!) is attached to, it was almost inevitable that he couldn’t appear in every single one of them. And today we get news of that very thing happening with one of his fairly major potential projects.

Lautner has been attached to two toy-based projects for a while now, the first being Max Steel, which is based on the doll by toy-maker Mattel, and the second being the recently announced Stretch Armstrong, based on the toy by Mattel’s rival Hasbro. Max Steel was set to be up first for Lautner but now we learn he has dropped out of that project in favor of something with a little more… stretch to it.

The battle of Mattel versus Hasbro for one of the most sought-after young actors in the business has seen the latter company come out on top. But how and why? Well, Vulture has all the in-depth details on what went down – but let us break it down as simply as possible right here:

Early last December a report was written over at Deadline which hailed Lautner as “Paramount’s Next Big Action Star” shortly after the actor locked down the Max Steel deal. Former chairman of Revolution Studios, Joe Roth, was set to produce the film which is about “an orphan exposed to nano-technology [who] becomes imbued with superhero powers.”

However, just over a week later Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner was extremely impressed by Lautner’s performance hosting Saturday Night Live (and Goldner just happens to be a corporate client at Lautner’s agency, WME Entertainment). Goldner then contacted WME’s top agents about casting Lautner in Stretch Armstrong and as we all know Lautner was cast at the start of this month as the live-action version of the popular stretchy action figure.

How it came about that Lautner has dropped out of Steel for Stretch is interesting: Shortly after signing on to play Max Steel Lautner apparently noticed Hasbro was getting its act together a lot quicker than Mattel was. Hasbro-based projects at various different studios were, and still are, moving ahead really quickly – including Candy Land (with a script written by Tropic Thunder’s Etan Cohen and Enchanted director, Kevin Lima, already in place for release in 2011); Peter Berg’s Battleship is already well on the way and due for release in 2012; a Risk movie is in development at Columbia Pictures with Will Smith and James Lassiter producing; and Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer fast-tracking Stretch Armstrong for a 2012 release.

And that doesn’t even cover the obvious success of both Transformers and G.I. Joe…

But Hasbro’s rival Mattel hasn’t been anywhere near as pro-active with its projects – not due to production problems but seemingly by choice. Before announcing Max Steel, Universal said it was making a movie based on another of Mattel’s toys, the astronaut action-figure from the sixties called Major Matt Mason, with Tom Hanks in line to star. But ever since that was talked about last March nothing has really happened with it.

Vulture points us to earlier news over at LA Times that Monsters vs. Aliens director, Rob Letterman, is in talks to helm Stretch Armstrong. And apparently by the time those talks started a few weeks ago, Lautner had already decided to opt out of Max Steel.

Was it smart for Lautner to choose the more well known toy-based product in Stretch Armstrong than the lesser known (at least in the major market of the US) Max Steel? I’d say so, even though Stretch isn’t a toy I think can work on the big screen without it being overly silly in a way that only appeals to kids (which is a real possibility considering it’s based on a kids toy). It goes without saying Lautner is popular right now, both with Twilighters worldwide and studios and filmmakers in Hollywood. He can basically pick and choose which roles he takes and you can’t blame him for going with the tried and tested Hasbro-based project, now can you?

Amusing bonus info: Lautner was at the American International Toy Fair industry convention in New York last Tuesday and he was seen and photographed extensively playing around with Hasbro’s new Nerf Raid Blaster in the company’s hospitality suite while at the same event Mattel was debuting its Taylor Lautner doll based on his Twilight character, Jacob Black. Ouch!

What do you think of Lautner dropping out of Max Steel for Stretch Armstrong? Smart move on his part?

Stretch Armstrong is set to be released (in 3D) sometime in 2012, with Max Steel set to hit sometime in 2011. We’ll let you know when they find a replacement for Lautner for the latter.

Sources: Vulture, LA Times and RamaScreen (for Lautner/Max Steel image)

It was back in the summer of last year that we told you that Universal was planning a Stretch Armstrong movie, just one of many toy-based adaptations that are in the works. President and CEO of Hasbro, Brian Goldner, recently talked about the movie’s “plot” without giving away too much (read: anything at all) – “Stretching as a superpower brings a lot of humor to the idea so imagine a big humorous super-powered, super-human kind of movie.”

One of the big questions when it comes to a movie like this is who is going to play the main character? With Stretch Armstrong, you’d think it would be some huge, intimidating guy with golden hair and chiseled features (i.e. just like the toy). Well, you’d be wrong, as news has just recently hit that New Moon star Taylor Lautner is going to be stretching it up on the big-screen… in 3D no less.

The news first broke at Deadline Hollywood before going on to be reported by other places like The Hollywood Reporter. So needless to say, this isn’t just some rumor created by a Twilight fan who has a penchant for ripped abs – Lautner has been officially cast in the role of Stretch Armstrong proving that status and fame is more important than acting ability. Here’s what Universal co-chairman, Donna Langley, had to say about the rising star and his casting as Stretch Armstrong:

“In the past two years, Taylor has emerged as a real star at the global box office. He brings the perfect balance of energy and athleticism to the role of an unlikely super hero with a fantastic super power.”

Since Lautner only had a small role to play in the first Twilight, they’re really only going on his expanded role in New Moon and how teenage girls everywhere swooned over him taking his shirt off every chance he could get… But nonetheless he has big things ahead of him including roles in the potential franchise Max Steel and the action films Northen Lights and Cancun. And let’s not forget he’s starring in two more of the Twilight movies, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. It looks like while Robert Pattenson and Kristin Stewart are going the indie route outside of the Twilight franchise, Lautner is going strictly mainstream.

There aren’t a lot of details on what the plot of Stretch Armstrong will be, other than it features, “an uptight spy who stumbles across a stretching formula, which he takes and must now adjust to in everyday life and when fighting crime.” Somehow I can’t get that nightclub dancing scene in Fantastic Four 2 out of my head when thinking about what this Stretch Armstrong movie will be like. It has serious potential to stretch the boundaries (see what I did there?) of what is considered good fun before it becomes completely ridiculous and stupid.

Expect a new Taylor Lautner-style Stretch Armstrong action figure.

As stated, in an unsurprising but nonetheless groan-worthy piece of news, Stretch Armstrong will be done in stereoscopic 3D. That means everything I hate about 3D – i.e. things coming out of the screen at you for no reason – will be in full effect here. In order to accommodate the 3D, the movie is being pushed back from its original May 15th, 2011 date to sometime in 2012. On a related note, another Hasbro toy-based movie, Battleship, has been pushed back from its original date of August 5th, 2011, to Memorial Day weekend (May 5th)  in 2012.

The script being used for Stretch Armstrong is still the one written by Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist) and it’s still being produced by Brian Grazer (American Gangster, The Da Vinci Code). On the directing front the last we heard Ron Howard may be in line to helm the film but there’s no word on whether that’s the case or not.

So there you have it: the wolf boy from the hugely successful New Moon is going to be our Stretch Armstrong. I really want to give it a chance and believe that this film can be something that’s a lot of campy fun for the whole family. But something tells me that ain’t gonna’ be the case. This is just one in a long line of stupid and unnecessary toys-turned-movies. Boy, I wish they’d leave my toy box alone!

What do you think of Taylor Lautner being cast as Stretch Armstrong? Is he right for the role or are they just choosing him to piggyback off the success of the whole Twilight craze? Do you agree with me about all these toy-based movies?

As stated, Stretch Armstrong will now hit theaters sometime in 2012. Stay tuned for exactly when.

Sources: Deadline Hollywood and THR’s Heat Vision Blog

Well the 2009 summer movie season is over for Hasbro and it has been financially successful. Transformers 2 has milked the entire world economy of over $800 million dollars, while G.I. Joe managed to drain the globe of $100 million this past weekend.  So what does that mean for Hasbro their future releases?

Well Steve “Frosty” Weintraub over at Collider managed to catch Brian Goldner, President and C.E.O of Hasbro, before a special screening of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and got some interesting answers about a few upcoming projects: Stretch Armstrong, Candy Land, Battleship and Monopoly.

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STRETCH ARMSTRONG

First up is Stretch Armstrong, the toy no one played with (seriously do you know anyone that owned one when you were a kid?). According to Goldner, Stretch will be the first movie released out of the lot, with a planned release of 2011. Now I know what you are thinking, what could this movie possibly be about? When asked, Goldner answered with this gem:

“Stretching as a superpower brings a lot of humor to the idea so imagine a big humorous super-powered, super-human kind of movie.”

Sigh, so to sum it up ‘We have no idea what we are doing with this but stretching is funny and my assistant once got his hand stuck in the vending machine trying to get a bag of chips that didn’t fall all the way. So we will probably have that in the movie.”

Seriously, how much of a generic answer can you give during an interview? I picture Patrick Warburton playing Stretch and Universal turning it into an Underdog meets The Tick-type action film for kids. Actually, now that I think about it, Warburton would be a great choice and I might actually go see this film if they choose him to star.

I can’t be too far off with the “humor” Goldner is referring to. Steve Oderkirk is writing the script for Stretch Armstrong. He also wrote Bruce Almighty, Barnyard, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, and Nutty Professor 2, so I bet you a dollar to donuts that there is more than one hand/foot/head stuck in a elevator/car door/briefcase/trunk type scene where he gets stretch to the breaking point and people walking/riding bikes/carrying heavy objects trip and fall on said appendage – COMEDY GOLD!!!

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CANDY LAND

Let’s move on to my favorite board games growing up, Chutes and Ladders Candy Land. Hasbro and Universal have already chosen writer Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and director Kevin Lima (Enchanted) to make their board game dream a reality. The Collider interviewer asks the tough question: “What’s your take on a film like “Candy Land?” Goldner’s lackluster response is as follows:

“Well, “Candy Land” is not just about the board game.  If you really think about it, it’s an adventure that a kid goes on with his parents when they go across that board.  It’s an adventure game so think of that as the beginning point and take off from there.”

Ok, hold please while I “really think about it”… Nope I don’t see it but if I’m reading between his lines properly, and I’m pretty sure I am, they have no idea what they are going to do with this property either. More than likely, it’ll be turned into a Jumanji/Adventure of Elmo mash up. Two kids, a brother and his precocious younger sister, get a board game for Christmas from their eccentric estranged uncle. They beg their parents to play with them and are transported to a magical Willy Wonka-type world where getting to King Kandy is the only way home. Along the way they met Gramma Nutt, Princess Frostine and dodge the evil Licorice Lord and his henchman Gloppy the Molasses Monster.Oh yeah, and the whole thing will be in 3-D.

Good gravy, I wasn’t even trying and I just made up a script for them to use (they can send all payments to my PayPal account).

Earlier this month we reported on the “WTF?!” news that Hollywood was going to be bringing us a Stretch Armstrong movie. Yes, that’s right, that toy/doll from your childhood whose muscly arms you could stretch. The film is part of a six-year deal between Universal Pictures and toy company Hasbro, and will be produced by Brian Grazer through his co-owned Imagine Entertainment company.

IESB is reporting that the Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Kung Pow) penned Stretch Armstrong movie may have a director in the form of Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, Apollo 13). The news comes from an article in Business Wire that notes that the movie industry is looking to toy lines to make movies instead of the other way around as has been the case (for the most part) up until this point. Here is the quote from the report:

“There’s more [movies based on toys] on the way. Hasbro has a movie based on its G.I. Joe toy line coming out on Aug. 7. The company has an April 2011 release for a movie version of its Stretch Armstrong figure, to be directed by Ron Howard. That is part of a six-picture deal the company has with Universal Studios (GE), which included a movie version of Monopoly. Meanwhile, archrival Mattel (MAT) is working on movie versions of Hot Wheels and Major Matt Mason.”

As IESB asks, is this a confirmation that Howard is directing Stretch Armstrong? Or is this a mix up thinking that Howard is directing because he co-owns Imagine Entertainment with Grazer (who’s producing the film)? For now we will treat this as a possibility but not a confirmation.

Either way, I don’t think who the director of this ridiculous movie idea is will make much of a difference. There are risky ideas that it takes skillful directors to make into a workable movie, and then there are ideas that are beyond workability… I think most definitely Stretch Armstrong is one of those latter ideas. Even if they go the semi-serious route, there is nothing much to set it apart from characters like Mr. Fantastic or Plastic Man. I really don’t see the incentive for making this movie out with the simple name recognition it would bring.

We will be sure to let you know when it’s confirmed whether or not Howard is the director of Stretch Armstrong.

What do you think of Ron Howard possibly directing the Stretch Armstrong movie? Do you think there is any way this could possibly work as a movie?

Stretch Armstrong currently has an April, 2011 release date.

Source: IESB and Business Week

What’s that you say, “Stretch Armstrong hasn’t been a popular toy for over a decade?” Sorry, doesn’t matter. Hollywood has run out of original ideas and they’re raiding our childhood to compensate.

Stretch Armstrong will be written by Steve Oedekirk of Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty fame. The film will be produced by Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Here’s what Grazer had to say about the project.

“Stretch Armstrong is a character I have wanted to see on screen for a long time…He’s an unconventional kind of super hero with a power that no one would want. It’s a story about a guy stretching – if you will – the limits of what is possible to become all that he can be.”

“An unconventional superhero?” What about Mr. Fantastic? Or Plastic-Man? The only notable thing I remember about Stretch Armstrong is that, eventually, every kid cut him open to see what was inside. Call me crazy, but I’m thinking they won’t go that route for the movie.

What do you think? Could Stretch Armstrong be worthwhile, or is Universal stretching their luck?

Stretch Armstrong is currently slated for an April 16, 2011 release.

Source: Variety, IGN