Many toy franchises like Transformers and Lego have gotten the cinematic treatment over the years, and now it looks like Hollywood has found the next popular brand to continue this trend. Reported exclusively by Deadline, a live-action film based on the mega toy franchise Beyblade is in development from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Paramount Pictures. The film will be written by Neil Widener and Gavin James, but the plot details are being kept under wraps at this time.
Beyblade was first released over 20 years ago in 1999 and was developed by the Japanese firm Taraka, but it has been licensed by different toy companies over the years including Hasbro. The spinning top toys would fight in a battle arena type setting, which is similar to Pokémon and was the brand's biggest competitor. “Early Beyblades included Ultimate Frostic Dranzer, Spin Dragoon and Saizo. The tops fight in arenas called Beystadiums, which have something of the colosseum about them with open sections in the walls and openings on the sides to launch into. Each Beyblade has a BeyLauncher, used to launch into battle.” Since these toys battled their way onto the scene they have been the center of countless mangas, TV shows, video games, and comic books.
The film is in very early development, but Deadline also notes that Paramount is likely looking at this film for franchise potential just like they did with Transformers. Because new movies only mean more merchandise to make even more money and the toy series thus far has sold over hundreds of millions of units worldwide.
It is also important to note that if you want to start a franchise, Bruckheimer is a great producer to do it with. Whether we are talking about Pirates of the Caribbean or National Treasure or Bad Boys, the producer has an impressive track record with franchises that make a lot of money. This will also see Paramount re-team with Bruckheimer as he helped produce the highly anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick. His other upcoming Paramount projects include an action-adventure movie Secret Headquarters starring Owen Wilson and the modern-day TV adaptation of the 1980 film American Gigolo. Widener and James are no stranger to big franchise films as well as the duo has written the upcoming Now You See Me 3 for Lionsgate and have been developing an adaptation of the Hourman comic for Warner Brothers and DC Films.
The jury is still out on whether Beyblade can be the next big franchise blockbuster, but all the pieces are coming into place for this project to be a success. For all the latest on Beyblade, stick with Collider.