With the huge success of “Barbie,” Mattel just revealed that they’re planning on turning a lot of their classic toys in to big movie projects. On the other end, Hasbro is taking another crack at their own extended universe, intending on developing more Transformers movies, as well as rebooting “G.I. Joe,” and bringing “M.A.S.K.,” “Micronauts,” and “Rom” to the big screen. What with these companies developing big projects, I thought of five great forgotten IP’s that deserve a reboot, or big screen franchise.
What are some forgotten IP’s would you like to see on the big screen?
Frankenstein Jr.
Hanna Barbera was planning an extended Hanna Barbera universe with their movie “Scoob!” which would have kicked everything off. But since the movie apparently tanked at the box office, all plans were scrapped. That’s a shame considering Frankenstein Jr. would allow for a great reboot. Mixing “Iron Giant” with “Big Hero 6” I’d picture this as a light hearted science fiction adventure with a dash of the Kaiju genre thrown in for good measure as Frankenstein Jr. would battle giant monsters. “Frankenstein Jr.” was always my favorite of the Hanna Barbera properties, and I think it’d be a great animated picture.
The Guyver
We’ve already had Iron Man. We’ve had a Robocop remake. And we’re getting Blue Beetle, so studios are very capable of animating some amazing living armor for a “The Guyver” reboot. With special effects the way they are now, “The Guyver” could be an incredible movie series that mixes Body Horror, Aliens, martial arts action, and science fiction for an older genre audience. It should definitely be in the tone of “Guyver II: Dark Hero” approaching the source material with a stern dramatic tone, and offering up some breakneck action sequences. With an R rating and some great monster effects, “The Guyver” could really deliver a sleek and entertaining interpretation on the tech based superhero.
Johnny Quest
There was talk for a long time about a potential movie starring Zac Efron fresh off of his “High School Musical” stint, but those talks eventually died down. Efron is just way too old for the part now. What with action movies still a hot ticket in the box office, it would be fun to see a modern interpretation of the Johnny Quest series that’s right at PG-13 with the mature themes of the original series and the 1990’s reboot. There’s a lot of potential for a good time with the edge of the “Indiana Jones” movie series.
The Last Starfighter
Although the original movie is essentially a riff on “Star Wars,” I think a reboot would be pretty excellent. Taking off on the whole video game angle, the studio could re-imagine the whole idea of the video game serving as a training device which ends up turning up at the front step of a reluctant hero. Lance Guest could make an appearance and the reboot could widen the scale of space battles, expand on the entire mythology, and even introduce more than one starfighter. Make it an exciting underdog story about three young teens that decide to rebuild the Rylan Star League.
Small Soldiers
Joe Dante’s “Small Soldiers” was basically “Gremlins” but with killer toys. After the success of “Toy Story,” it would have made sense for “Small Soldiers” to be a banging success, but sadly it has somewhat languished in obscurity for a long time. The darkly comedic scifi was a scathing commentary on consumerism and the toy industry but had a lot of potential to branch out in to its own meta-verse. The reboot could bring back some of the old characters while introducing a brand new legion of villains and heroes, all of whom could be given a bigger spotlight. “Small Soldiers” always did deserve a sequel.