That title could have been written at any time over the past decade, because a movie based on Hot Wheels has been planned for a long time. The last time it was coming together was in 2008, and then Speed Racer came and went and the project was quietly shelved.
Now, according to Variety, a Hot Wheels movie is forming from the ashes of that previous incarnation. This is at the fledging stage at present, with no writers or director yet hired, but Warner Brothers seems keen to get things moving.
Hot Wheels is likely to go a different way this time though, with a film in the mold of the Fast and Furious films made to appeal to adults rather than children. Eschewing the kids who are now buying the Hot Wheels toys for the adults who used to is a gamble, but perhaps a worthy one.
I guess purely in terms of box office this strategy makes sense. Speed Racer flopped badly while (for some unfathomable reason) Fast Five did superb business. But that doesn’t mean the idea is any more palatable to me personally. I just don’t see the appeal.
