In 2023, Warner Bros. released the Barbie movie, which went on to make well over a billion dollars at the box office. Mattel immediately got to work planning how to bring some of its other iconic toys to the screen, and other companies followed suit.
Board games and children’s toys have inspired movies and TV shows before, of course; for instance, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game, but it’s one where story, characters, and setting are all baked into the experience. It’s easy to imagine how you could turn that into a movie, and many have tried over the years. But some of these upcoming projects will have you scratching your head, going, “But how would that even work?”
Catan
Settle in for multiple Catan series
Catan, previously known as Settlers of Catan, is a tremendously popular board game where players take on the role of people settling a new land. They must build roads and establish communities using resources like wood and wheat, trading with other players (or not) to take over as much of the board as possible. Buy it yourself to see what the fuss is about.
Netflix is developing both scripted and unscripted shows based on Catan. Details are scarce. Maybe there’s a period drama set in the actual world of Catan, with actors playing the settlers. A romantic comedy where a couple meet over a game of Catan and name their kids stuff like Brick, Sheep, and Ore? A reality show where people have to settle a real-life tract of land according to the rules of the game? Anything’s possible.
It feels like a big jump to go from nothing to multiple Catan series in one leap, but who knows? Maybe the Catan show will be Netflix’s next big hit. We’ll need something to watch after Stranger Things returns after an eternity away, after all.
Monopoly
A Monopoly movie is money in the bank
Everyone knows how to play Monopoly; you pick a little figurine and then go around the board buying properties and trying to bankrupt the other players; we all know that Monopoly is the perfect way to ruin your next family gathering. In 2024, Lionsgate announced it was teaming up with Margot Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap, to produce a Monopoly movie, which means that Barbie herself is involved.
As for what the movie will actually be about, we’re in the dark. According to Variety, Lionsgate executive Adam Fogelson said that LuckyChap has “a clear point of view.” I’m guessing it’s a scripted drama with actors playing Mr. Monopoly and…I dunno, the thimble. If Lionsgate is bold, it will use the fan-made trailer above as inspiration and make a kind of Lego Movie-meets-Wall Street mashup.
Magic 8 Ball
What is this series about? Ask again later.
The Magic 8 Ball works like this: you think of a question, shake the ball, and it comes back with a response like, “It is certain,” “Don’t count on it,” or the dreaded “Ask again later.” The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan is going to turn this into a TV series. The pilot is already written.
Maybe it’s a horror story; that would be up Shyamalan’s alley, and people are always looking for good horror movies to watch. Maybe the Magic 8 Ball is possessed and gives people answers that purposefully lead them to ruin, although I’m not sure that’s the image Mattel wants for its divination device.
Uno
A wild card choice
Uno is a card game where you win by getting rid of all the cards in your hand, which can be difficult when the rules don’t allow you to discard the cards you currently have or another player puts down a “Draw Four” card or you’re about to win but then someone reverses the turn order so you say you’re done and walk out the room and Christmas morning is ruined.
Marcy Kelly is writing the script. I can’t imagine how you would make a movie in “the world of Uno,” so I’ll keep things grounded and guess it’ll be about a high-stakes game of Uno that costs our protagonist their life savings. And the only way to get it back…is more Uno.
Rock’ Em Sock’ Em Robots
Extremely real steel
This idea is a little easier to get your head around: Ryan Engle will write a script inspired by Rock’ Em Sock’ Em Robots, the boxing game where two players control little robot boxers who punch each other until one of their heads pops off. Vin Diesel will star.
There was a 2011 movie called Real Steel where Hugh Jackman played a washed-up boxer in a world where all the boxing was done by remote-controlled robots, so he teams up with his son to build and pilot one of those instead. The Rock’ Em Sock’ Em Robots movie could probably rip that off and be fine.
Matchbox and Hot Wheels
Fast, furious, and teeny-tiny
Hot Wheels and Matchbox are two different toy car brands, both owned by Mattel. Matchbox cars are traditionally based on real-world vehicles, while Hot Wheels cars are more colorful and fantastical, but it all basically comes down to the same thing: they’re little toy cars that you roll across the floor while saying “vroom.”
It’s confusing to me that Mattel is working on separate movies based on both brands, since they’re so alike. Wicked director Jon M. Chu has signed on to do Hot Wheels, while Extraction director Sam Hargrave is working on the Matchbox movie. Maybe they’re developing both and will then choose whichever idea is better?
View-Master
Who views the View-Master?
The View-Master is essentially a big pair of goggles you hold up to your face and then cycle through a number of slides. Ooh, a picture of a mountain! Ooh, a picture of a lake! Think of it as early VR. View-Masters feel a little anachronistic in an age when smart glasses can play little movies right in front of your eyeballs, and I haven’t the foggiest idea how anyone could turn this into a film.
All we know is that the View-Master movie will be live-action. Maybe the main character will put the View-Master up to their face and be transported to whatever slide they see? I’ve got nothing.
And those are just the most baffling entries
There are a lot of other movies and shows based on toys on the way, including Thomas the Tank Engine, Polly Pocket, and Masters of the Universe. But for the most part, it’s easy to imagine where they could go onscreen. Most of the projects on this list are mysteries, and only time will tell whether they make any sense.
And if you want to watch the film that started it all, Barbie is streaming on HBO Max along with a lot of other great movies.
