Beyblade Live-Action Movie in Development at Paramount

By Russ Burlingame

Hasbro is teaming with Paramount Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer for a live-action feature film based on Beyblade, the popular toy line that has sold hundreds of millions of units worldwide. Essentially a set of battling tops, Beyblade was first released in Japan in 1999, but has since been regionalized around the world. While it might not seem like an immediately obvious premise for a movie, there have been TV and comics adaptations of the property, generally revolving around a Mortal Kombat or Real Steel-style tournament of champions. Without any real details as to what Bruckheimer's plans are for the IP, it seems likely that's the direction the movie will go as well.

There are various different types of Beyblades, with the commonality that they are launched from a launcher into a small tub that serves as the arena at the beginning of each turn. Bruckheimer and Paramount are likely viewing this as a potential franchise, given the visibility of the IP, according to Deadline, who first reported the story. At this point, the film is in early development.

Neil Widener and Gavin James, who have been working to develop an Hourman movie for DC and Warner Bros., are writing the script, but there is no word yet on who will direct. It's probably unlikely that the James/Widener script will use characters famliar to the anime, manga, or comic adaptations of the property, as those are likely at least partially owned by the companies who originally published the adaptations.

The relationship between Hasbro and Paramount has been a huge one for both sides, considering the financial success of the Transformers franchise. Other movies based on G.I. Joe or the board game Battleship have not had the same level of success, but have provided Paramount with some solid tentpole films to sell some merch around.

Bruckheimer and Paramount are finally close to the goal line with Top Gun: Maverick, a long-in-development movie that has seen its release date pushed numerous times as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The movie brings back Tom Cruise and several other members of the original Top Gun cast, and teams them with an all-new batch of pilots.

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