If you grew up playing with toy cars, which a lot of us did, there’s a chance you’re going to be very excited about the upcoming Matchbox movie. Though there have been some terrible movies based on classic toys over the years, we’ve seen a deviation from that trend recently thanks in part to the massive success of Barbie and the two latest Transformers films. With the creative team behind the upcoming Mattel Films release, along with wrestler-turned-actor John Cena leading the cast, we should be in good hands.
Though nothing has been said about the Matchbox release date at this time, there’s quite a bit about the long-in-the-works project that has us very excited. Here’s everything we know about the new movie based on the iconic toy brand.
What Is The Matchbox Release Date?
As mentioned above, no one from Mattel Films, Apple, or Skydance (who are all producing the movie) has mentioned anything about the Matchbox release date, but it’s but guaranteed you won't see it on the 2024 movie schedule. That said, it could very well end up somewhere on the 2025 movie schedule, which will also see the return of perhaps the biggest car franchise on the planet right now when the upcoming Fast & Furious 11 races onto the big screen.
Expect to hear more about the Matchbox release date in the coming weeks and months as more information about its production and cast is announced. Speaking of which…
The Matchbox Cast
Well, the list of upcoming John Cena movies got a little bit longer in September 2024 when Deadline reported that the former WWE Champion and Make-A-Wish Foundation all-star had joined the Matchbox cast. Though nothing about Cena’s role has been announced at this time, we can only assume he’s going to be playing a character who drives a car and not a car himself (as hilarious as that would be).
Cena, who took Hollywood by storm nearly a decade ago, is no stranger when it comes both to car movies (he was one of the bright spots of the two most recent Fast & Furious movies) and films based on iconic toy brands thanks to his role in the 2018 Transformers live-action movie, Bumblebee, is more than up to the task of leading a project like this. However, we’ll have to wait and see if he’ll take a more white-meat babyface approach like his wrestling persona or an over-the-top and foul-mouthed tour de force like on Peacemaker. We shall see.
Make sure to check back, as we should know more information about the rest of the Matchbox cast in the coming weeks and months.
What Is Matchbox About?
Much like Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and the upcoming The Sims movie, the Matchbox line of toy cars isn’t really known for its riveting stories, but more for allowing generations of kids to use their own imagination to play in worlds of their own creation. At this time, nothing has been said about the Matchbox story or how screenwriters David Coggeshall and Jonathan Tropper will turn the massive collection of diecast and plastic cars into a massive big-screen spectacle, but we can imagine whatever it is will be something to behold.
With countless cars (both real and fantastical) from multiple generations of toys, the options are virtually limitless for the pair of writers whose bodies of work include everything from The Adam Project to The Deliverance and This Is Where I Leave You to Scream: The TV Series. With both writers having a tremendous amount of experience crafting exciting, emotional, and enchanting stories, we look to be in very good hands when it comes to the story.
Extraction Director Sam Hargrave Will Helm Matchbox
If you were looking for another reason to be excited about the Matchbox movie, here you go. In May 2024, Deadline reported that Sam Hargrave, the director behind the Extraction action movie franchise, would be helming the project, which is awesome news for several reasons.
First, Hargrave’s work on the Chris Hemsworth-led franchise has given the world two of the best action movies in recent memory, both of which made great use of long takes with seamless sequences. If he’s able to do that again in Matchbox, we might not just have one of the best toy movies ever, but also one of the most inventive car films in quite some time.
On top of that, just like Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, Hargrave has years of experience as a stunt coordinator, having worked on some of the best Marvel movies like Captain American: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, as well as the Hunger Games franchise and Atomic Blonde. It’s safe to say, he knows a thing or two about action.
The Matchbox Movie Was In Works Well Before Barbie Was Released
Though one could assume Matchbox is Mattel Films cashing in on the ridiculous Barbie box office numbers from July 2023, the studio was actually working on the project well before Margot Robbie painted the world pink. In a July 2022 announcement, Mattel announced that it was working with Skydance Media to develop a live-action movie based on the famous line of toys created nearly 70 years earlier.
Not a whole lot of information was released at the time, besides statements from the respective parties, but that has clearly changed in the two years since then.
This Isn’t The Only Upcoming Movie Based On Mattel Toys
It looks like we’ll be seeing Mattel movies on the big screen for the foreseeable future, as there are numerous projects in the works in addition to Matchbox. The live-action Masters of the Universe movie, which is based on the toys and cartoon of the same name, is set to open in theaters on June 5, 2026, but there are several others that don’t have release dates at this time.
There has long been talk of a Hot Wheels movie, and while there is no director at this time, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is leading the charge to get this one off the ground. There’s also Daniel Kaluuya’s mysterious Barney movie we’ve been hearing about for a while, and there’s even a Bob the Builder film in the works. We’ll have to wait and see…
Expect to hear a whole more about Matchbox further down the road, but until then, check out some of Mattel’s big theme park plans.
