9th February 2018
Action Man is being turned into a film by Paramount Pictures. This will be yet another Hasbro toy brand being brought to the big screen.
Launched in 1966 by Palitoy, Action Man is essentially the British version of Hasbro’s 1964 invention G.I. Joe.
G.I. Joe has already been spun into a movie, a sequel, then a planned third offering in 3D and subsequent scrapping in favour of a reboot of the franchise which is due for release spring 2020.
James Bobin has been appointed as director, having previously directed The Muppets and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The script is to be written by Simon Farnaby who worked on Paddington 2.
These military dolls became very popular and were similar in scale and had removable clothing just like Barbie. The term “action figure” was coined to describe these dolls marketed to boys in order to avoid them being seen as simply a version of a girl’s plaything.
In recent decades, Action Man’s occupation of toy shops has ended as parents became more reluctant to be a part of teaching the killing game to their offspring.
Today Action Man is produced and sold as a collector’s item, designed with a nostalgic, grown-up audience in mind.
The current range of dolls includes an infantryman, footballer, frogman, paratrooper, ski patrolman, action soldier and a limited edition of Bobby Moore in 1966 World Cup winning England football kit.
It is highly likely that if an Action Man film does get released, then there will a brand new toy range out, once again is designed to appeal to martially-minded children.
Informer: Deadline