It’s panning out to be a good end-of-decade run for Hasbro, the Rhode-Island-based toy manufacturer smartly focused upon in this Dave Itzkoff New York Times pre-release piece for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” After all, what of substance can you really dig into, journalistically, when it comes to these films? An internal email that won’t matter in a week, if it even does after the weekend?
Anyway, in addition to “Transformers,” Hasbro will also finally see its G.I. Joe line make it to screens in August in the form of the reportedly troubled “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.” But the fun doesn’t end there for the company, which saw a heyday in the 1980s that it’s hoping to reach once again with revamped versions of old franchises. A slew of boardgames have been optioned for adaptation, including Battleship, Candyland and Monopoly, as well as Ouiji, which is being developed by “Transformers” director Michael Bay.
Oh, and don’t forget about Ron Howard’s “Stretch Armstrong.” Silly, of course, but it seems Hollywood isn’t willing to place a risk on anything without at least some form of built-in fanbase, no matter how ancient the fan base.