You remember View-Master right? If you’re a certain age — say over 30 — you might remember the sterescopic viewer that let you view 3D stories from popular cartoons and comics (I had one from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon based on one of the boogieman episodes).
Mattel Films is banking on a whole generation of fans being nostalgic for the device, teaming up with Sony Pictures Entertainment and producer Todd Black to introduce a “modern take on this beloved toy to audiences everywhere” via a live-action film, according to Mattel Films President Robbie Brenner.
Mattel Films has been vocal about its ambitions to turn as many of its old toys into movies as it can. According to one report, the studio has 45 other toy-based movies in the pipeline, including films based on Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket, and Masters of the Universe. Who knows, maybe an Uno movie will soon be sweeping the Oscars.
In any event, a View-Master movie has been rumored to be in development since at least 2009, with THR following up with a separate report in 2019. The View-Master, a toy first introduced way back in 1939, also continues to hang around in other ways, including as a discontinued low-cost VR headset. It is one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
If and when the View-Master movie comes to fruition, it will have a hard time matching Barbie, which managed to capture the zeitgeist in 2023 with the Barbenheimer craze. Barbie went on to be nominated for numerous awards, eventually winning Best Original Song. Still, while it’s very early days for View-Master, today’s new is another concrete step forward for Mattel’s toys-to-film ambitions.
For more, check out the rest of the big movies releasing in 2024.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
