Remember those old plastic View-Masters your parents (and grandparents) played with as kids? Well, they’ll soon be heading to the big screen at a multiplex near you.
Mattel Films and MGM announced Wednesday that they are teaming up for a live-action film based on the vintage View-Master toy. We’re not sure how that is going to work, but we’re definitely intrigued.
“Since the 1940s, View-Master has inspired wonder and joy in children of all ages, creating huge opportunities for storytelling,” Robbie Brenner, Mattel’s Head of Film, said in a statement. “MGM Pictures has tremendous expertise and a proven track record in capturing audiences’ imagination through film, and we’re proud to be partnering with them to bring another Mattel franchise to theaters.”
Mattel Films and MGM will co-produce the film. Brenner and Cassidy Lange, MGM’s co-president of Production, will oversee production.
“View-Master was the first device that allowed families all over the world to escape their reality and take them places they never thought they could go. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Mattel to create a family adventure integrating the old school turn and click stereotypic device with the modern world of virtual reality,” said Jonathan Glickman, MGM’s president, Motion Picture Group, added.
This marks the second recent collaboration between Mattel Films and MGM, following in the plastic-heeled footsteps of the American Girl brand. Films based on Hot Wheels and Barbie, starring and co-produced by Academy Award-nominated actress Margot Robbie, are also in the works.
First launched at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the View-Master was named by Time as one of the 100 All Time Greatest Toys in 2011 and inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
Mattel’s updated version of the classic toy now brings the user experience to a whole new level of realism with View-Master VR.