Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Max Steel

2/26/10 - Taylor Lautner reportedly pulled out of Max Steel, a proposed film based on the Mattel toy, in favor of his other toy movie, Stretch Armstrong byHasbro, according to New York Magazine's Vulture blog.  Lautner became increasingly convinced that Hasbro was playing its hand better than Mattel.  Hasbro was moving with far greater speed through Hollywood's development maze than Mattel, not only setting up projects, but quickly moving them forward.  As a result, by the time Universal had begun conversations earlier this month with director Rob Letterman about directing Stretch Armstrong, Lautner had already decided not to do Max Steel.

12/7/09 - Taylor Lautner, who won fans over with as his portrayal of werewolf Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga, just landed the lead as Paramount's next big action hero Max Steel, according to Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily.  The film is based on the successful international Mattel property, and will be directed by Joe Roth.

7/13/09 – A movie is developing based on Mattel's Max Steel action figure.  Variety reports that Paramount Pictures is teaming with producer Joe Roth for a movie based on the property, about a 19-year-old extreme sports junkie recruited by a secret agency after an accident infects his body with nanobots, making him superhuman.  Although 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, he's proved more popular in Latin America, where Max Steel is the region's No. 1 action figure. Mattel has continued to produce animated direct-to-DVD features for the region, produced by Rainmaker Entertainment in Vancouver.  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 was keen on pairing with Roth, considering the Max Steel character has similarities to the XXX franchise he launched while head of Revolution Studios. The Xander Cage character in the first film was an extreme sports athlete turned spy.  It's early days yet, and Roth and his toymaker partners are seeking a writer and director.

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