A Hot Wheels movie is still in the works and director Simon Crane has been hired to put the project in drive at Legendary Pictures.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on Thursday that Crane and Legendary finally closed a deal after months of talks. Joe Roth, Palak Patel, and Sam Mercer are set to produce the film. It will be based on the Mattel toys and if Hollywood can make a movie about Legos, the industry can probably figure out how to get inspired by small cars.
Cormac Wibberly (National Treasure) and John Gatins (Flight) recently took stabs at the screenplay and McG (This Means War, Terminator Salvation) was looked at as a candidate for director. CinemaBlend notes that Warner Bros. and Sony’s Columbia Pictures also had the project at some point, before it went nowhere.
Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the team behind Iron Man, wrote the most recent draft, although Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show) is now working on a rewrite. The plot finds a former Illinois State Trooper fights a man his father once put in jail. There’s also a secret military device involved.
This past summer, Legendary had two names on its list of potential directors: Crane and 28 Weeks Later’s Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. While Crane is relatively unknown to most outside of Hollywood, he is an experienced stunt coordinator and is looking to make his directorial debut with the Jason Statham thriller Echelon. However, if Legendary wants Hot Wheels done as soon as possible, it may turn out to be Crane’s debut instead.
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