Mattel, brimming with hubris, has the stones to try and make a View-Master movie
Give ‘em points for trying: Mattel, consumed by power and flopsweat, is determined to turn every goddamned toy it’s ever made into a movie. It began with Barbie and Masters Of The Universe, then moved to Hot Wheels and American Girl dolls, and now the toy company’s new partnership with MGM is giving birth to a live-action “family adventure” based on the your grandma’s favorite toy, the View-Master. You know, that clunky, stereoscopic thing filled with blurry pictures of Donald Duck.
So, no, the View-Master name doesn’t have the same kind of juice that, say, Barbie does, but the toy’s enough of a blank slate that they could conceivably use it to tell any story they want. Also, the product’s attempts to pivot into virtual reality have resulted in a product that looks a helluva lot like the goggles Tye Sheridan wore in Ready Player One, so don’t be surprised if the final product veers in a similar direction. Virtual reality is, after all, finally getting good.
“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,” said MGM’s Jonathan Glickman in a statement. “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.”
Anyways, with Mattel on a cinematic rampage, all we can do now is hope they’ll make the Child’s Play reboot we’d actually want to see—one starring the finger-munching Snack Time Cabbage Patch Kid.