Pajiba Exclusive: Jem and the Holograms Coming to the Big Screen?
By Dustin Rowles | Trade News | November 3, 2009 | Comments ()
Since the massive success of the Transformers franchise and even G.I. Joe, Hasbro has gotten even more involved in the movie business, realizing that -- no matter how bad the film is -- that their toy sales are primed to skyrocket. And it's worked, too. Despite a struggling economy, late last month, Hasbro actually showed a tidy third-quarter profit, thanks largely to the sale of toys tied to the G.I. Joe and Transformers movies. We know, too, that Hasbro also signed a six-film pact with Universal last year, and several of those movies are already in development. We know that Stretch Armstrong will be the first out of the gate (a release date for April 2011 has been set), and we also know that movies based on Candyland, Battleship, Clue and Monopoly are also in the works. Moreover, last week, we learned that the Hasbro-owned Ouija board is getting a movie franchise, too. Ouija movie is currently being scripted by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the writers behind the upcoming Tron Legacy.
Well, guess what else Hasbro owns? Jem and the Holograms, the movie of last resort. Indeed, whenever the topic of terrible cartoon-to-movie adaptations arise, the readership here at Pajiba often suggests sarcastically, "What's next? Jem and the Holograms?
You betcha.
It's still very early yet. And like a lot of projects in the early-stages, they never materialize. But I can report that the movie is in not only in development, but that at least initially, someone named John Chu (The Secret of the Magic Gourd) was attached to direct the project.
But wait -- before you get your twisters in a knick, Universal and Hasbro are trying to decide now whether to go ahead with the movie, or launch a new television series first. That's still an open question, although no matter which way it goes, Peter Barsocchini is in the mix, to either produce or write the script -- he scripted all four High School Musical films. At this stage, the movie looks at least a couple of years down the road.
For the unfamiliar, Jem and the Holograms was an 80s cartoon, from the same team that brought you the G.I. Joe and Transformer television series, about a holographic teen pop-star group who get into a series of misadventures. Also, they are truly outrageous.
(H/T The Hollywood Cog, of course)
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