‘MASK’ to Become Film Franchise with Paramount
MASK, the ’80s Kenner action figures and animated series, will be adapted into a live-action film, through a deal with Paramount and a team up between F. Gary Gray and Hasbro.
MASK is an acronym for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, a task force let by Matt Trakker, whose goal is to take out the criminal organization VENOM. The film is to be produced by Hasbro and Gray. The goal is to quickly set a writer to hatch a contemporary subculture movie with a youth empowerment angle.
Gray is coming from a $1.2 billiion global grossing The Fate of the Furious and Straight Outta Compton, and is currently in pre-production on the untitled Men in Black reboot for Sony Pictures starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.
The Men in Black film will be produced by Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, and will begin production in June for a May 17, 2019 release.
Gray was attracted to MASK because it is a vintage property that could be revamped and have a message for a contemporary audience. For Paramount, it is the ideal franchise swing that the rebuilding studio needs.
Gray is repped by UTA and Principato-Young.
Do you remember the MASK figures from the ’80s? How do you think they’ll do as a franchise? Let us know!
Source: Deadline
