Several years ago, toy company Hasbro set out to rule the multiplex with film adaptations of some of its most valuable properties. One of those was the 1970s action figure line Micronauts, which landed animator Dean DeBlois as its director in 2019. However, in the intervening years, the movie failed to materialize. Collider‘s Steve Weintraub recently spoke about the film’s status with DeBlois, who has just made his live-action directorial debut with How To Train Your Dragon. DeBlois revealed that behind-the-scenes turmoil derailed the film, as Hasbro partnered with a variety of production companies.

“Micronauts just got stalled. It got stalled because there’s been a changing of hands. So, Hasbro had their own film division; Paramount was involved. They then partnered with E1, and now they’re back to having their own film division. So in all of those exchanges, everybody has different ideas of what a Micronauts movie should be. And so it just continues to sort of move along slowly.”

DeBlois also shared that the film was written, but his original script had undergone various rewrites, explaining, “I did a script, but it changed as production companies changed hands. So, there were new ambitions and new ideas of what the movie should be. I continue to ride that slow train of development just to see where everyone aligns.”

Hasbro has attempted to leverage its 100-year history into a slate of films, but so far it has only truly succeeded with the Transformers franchise. The three G.I. Joe films have failed to set the box office on fire, while adaptations of Battleship and Jem and the Holograms have flopped. Other adaptations, including Micronauts, Rom, Visionaries, and M.A.S.K., have stalled out completely.

What Is ‘Micronauts’ About?

An American localization of the Japanese Microman toy line by the toy company Mego, Micronauts first hit shelves in 1976. A series of small but highly articulated action figures with a number of interchangable parts, the story of the Micronauts was created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Michael Golden in a Marvel comic book series. The series, which outlasted the Micronauts toys and Mego itself, detailed the struggles of the rebellious Micronauts against the tyrannical Baron Karza in the atom-sized Microverse; when the Micronauts characters came to “our” world, they were the size of action figures. The Micronauts were acquired by Hasbro after Mego‘s bankruptcy, and have been revived with a variety of comic book series over the years.

What Is ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ About?

A live-action adaptation of the 2010 animated film of the same name, which was itself an adaptation of the 2003 fantasy novel by Cressida Cowell, How To Train Your Dragon takes place on the island of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been at war for centuries. Mason Thames plays Hiccup, the goofball son of the island’s chieftain, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). Intending to hunt down and slay a dragon, Hiccup instead befriends the creature, dubbing it “Toothless.” Their friendship may change the island of Berk forever. DeBlois, who co-directed and co-wrote the original animated film, has returned to write and direct the live-action remake.

Micronauts is still reportedly in development.

via Collider