Teyonah Parris, best known for playing Monica Rambeau in WandaVision and the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large, has joined John Cena in Matchbox, Apple Original Films’ live-action spin on the Mattel car toy line. Sam Hargrave, the director behind the Extraction movies, will helm the feature from a screenplay by David Coggeshall and The Adam Project‘s Jonathan Tropper. Parris also joins Jessica Biel and Sam Richardson on the call sheet.

Plot details are still being kept under the hood. Still, The Hollywood Reporter relays that the project is described as an action-packed, globetrotting adventure and centres on a group of childhood friends who must work together to stop an impending worldwide disaster and rediscover their friendship along the way.

Matchbox is the toy brand created in 1953 that was acquired by Mattel in 1997. Mattel competed with Matchbox with its own line of miniature car toys, Hot Wheels. Plot details of the film adaptation are, of course, behind kept top secret. This project is different from the Hot Wheels adaptation, which Mattel Films is also developing but will be produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.

Matchbox project is far from the only Mattel toy-inspired feature in the works. As we reported last year, the toy company has confirmed a Polly Pocket film starring Lily Collins, from which director Lena Dunham departed this summer. There are fourteen projects in active development, including Barney, starring Daniel Kaluuya (as Mattel Films producer Robbie Brenner previously explained, “more like a Being John Malkovich… [it’ll] be more adult and have adult themes — and sort of be a little bit off-kilter”), a Magic 8-Ball film (“a PG-13 thriller”), the Vin Diesel Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, J.J. Abrams’ Hot Wheels (which has “real emotion and real stakes to it”), and a UNO movie.

Beyond Marvel, Teyonah Parris has also starred in genre blockbusters, including Candyman and They Cloned Tyrone.

Recommended Posts