Despite disappointing box office returns for Masters of the Universe this summer, movie studios are still chasing the Barbie blockbuster phenomenon of 2023. Even as Danny McBride prepares a new G.I. Joe movie, another film, based on one of G.I. Joe‘s most celebrated offshoots, is looking to invade the multiplex.

There are a number of toy-based properties headed to the big screen in the near future. First up is Matchbox, from toymaker Mattel; the venerable line of toy cars is coming to Apple TV this fall, with John Cena and Jessica Biel in tow. Mattel, who raked in the dough after the Barbie bonanza, has a variety of projects in the works, including Hot Wheels, Major Matt Mason, and Monster High. Rival toymaker Hasbro, meanwhile, is looking to develop a number of its own properties, including Monopoly, Clue, and Micronauts.

As per the Hollywood Reporter, Action Man, a British incarnation of G.I. Joe, is in the works as a feature film. While no director has yet been hired, a number of onetime Marvel Studios employees have been assembled into a behind-the-scenes Action Force to bring the cult-classic character to life. Jeremy Latcham, who produced several early MCU movies, including Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, and another Hasbro property, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, will serve as a producer on the project. It will be penned by longtime James Gunn collaborator Simon Hatt and Anthony Sellitti, who has penned a number of episodes of the acclaimed X-Men ’97 animated series.

Who Is Action Man?

Action Man was initially launched in the United Kingdom by Palitoy in 1966 as Britain’s answer to G.I. Joe, using licensed copies of Hasbro‘s molds of the 12-inch moveable fighting man. Initially little more than a G.I. Joe in British packaging, the line was eventually given more distinctly British themes, and endured for almost two decades before being phased out in the 1980s, as the 12-inch G.I. Joes were superseded by the 3.75-inch G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero; that line was rebranded as Action Force in the UK. The brand was revived by Hasbro in the 1990s as a more outlandish character, and was pitted against the nefarious cyborg Doctor X; this incarnation of Action Man had two animated series, one traditionally animated and one featuring CG animation. The character has also been integrated into the larger G.I. Joe mythos as a British operative who works with the Joes from time to time.

An Action Man movie is in development.

via Collider