hasbro

Max Brooks, the popular author of World War Z is bringing the same wartime "you-are-there" approach that he took in his best-selling novel, into the world of Hasbro's G.I. Joe. IDW is publishing Brooks' five-issue comic book mini-series, titled G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds which places a spotlight on lower-profile Joes (like Spirit) and members of Cobra (like Major Bludd and Firefly) and the toll that their constant battle takes on their personal lives.

It sounds like an interesting project, putting a human face on the never-ending war between action figure-based cartoon characters. It's something that the live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra wasn't entirely successful at, and that one had actual humans it it. Will Max Brooks (and acclaimed artist Howard Chaykin) be able to infuse the world of G.I. Joe with genuine human emotion? And is anyone even looking for such a thing in a G.I. Joe comic book? I guess we'll all find out in May when G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds hits the stands.

(via Figures.com, IGN)

Two Hasbro toy based films have been pushed back, one because of a decision to go 3D, and another to go sci-fi.

Taylor Lautner is set to star as Stretch Armstrong in the 3D movie based on the Hasbro toy. The film is set for release in 2012, after pushing back the release date about a year. According to THR, the plot is very Peter Parker-esque, with Stretch as an uptight spy who has to adjust to life after stumbling across a stretching formula.

Lautner is best known as Jacob Black in the Twilight franchise, was also Sharkboy in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D and voiced a couple of characters in the animated series Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.

The report also includes a tidbit that yet another Hasbro toy adaptation, Battleship, is being pushed back to introduce a sci-fi component (read: aliens). Battleship is now being positioned for Memorial Day weekend 2012, which suggests that Stretch Armstrong is probably going to be released later in the year to avoid competition.

Hasbro continues their steamrolling of Hollywood with the announcement that J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) is in negotiations to produce a film based on their Micronauts property. The Japanese science-fiction action figure line from Takara was brought to the States in the 1970's by Mego (with some items replicated for the collector's market in 2002 by Palisades), but has kept a pretty low profile since the line's cancellation in 1980.

Most fans are familiar with The Micronauts from the officially licensed Marvel Comic series, which ran throughout the 1980's, long after the toys had vanished from shelves. Image Comics and Devil's Due Publishing both tried their hand at a Micronauts comic book revival during the last decade, but were met with little success.

The original Micronauts figures were an odd-looking assortment of strange heroes and bizarre aliens, and many of the toys featured interchangeable parts. While no over-arching story was created for the toys upon release (marking it as one of the few action figure assortments at the time with no built-in storyline), the comic versions of the Micronauts have positioned the characters as defenders of a microscopic universe, attempting to overthrow the evil Baron Karza.

If a full-on Micronauts revival is just around the corner, I'm hoping Hasbro keeps a lot of the funky character design intact. I had a good amount of Micronauts growing up, and they still stand out to me as being some of the weirdest looking (and most fun) toys from my early childhood.

(via Wall Street Journal)

Hasbro, high off their big earnings from Transformers and G.I. Joe, are looking into their massive toy box for another hit franchise. According to Pajiba, the company, along with Peter Barsocchini (screenwriter of all three High School Musicals), plan on a revival of the 1980's all-girl glam-rock adventure show Jem.

The article is vague on the details of what Jem's licensing resuscitation will entail, whether it means Hasbro is working on a new cartoon or a live-action movie. My guess is that the toys will come first -- that's still Hasbro's bread-and-butter -- and the projects, whatever they may be, will follow. Jem creator Christy Marx would like to update the property for a new generation of young girls (and open-minded boys), but, personally, I like the idea of keeping Jem firmly set in the late 1980's. New projects based on Jem weren't feasible until 2008, when Hasbro was able to cut through legal red tape and acquire all of their original Sunbow animated library from a corporate entity called "TV Loonland".

Jem was the story of Jerrica Benton, daughter of a record exec who created a high-tech holographic artificial intelligence called Synergy that could transform Jerrica and her friends into their alter-egos, pop band Jem and the Holograms. Jerrica (as Jem) fought for control of her father's record label after his death, often facing off against the unscrupulous Misfits, a group that the label (under new management) was pushing as their number one act.

You can get a taste of the first truly outrageous episode, "The Beginning", after the jump.