Jon M. Chu’s ‘Hot Wheels’ & the Mini-Renaissance of Toy Cinema
Published On: July 8th, 2025
Warner Bros. and Mattel have officially set Wicked and Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu at the helm of their long-gestating live-action Hot Wheels movie, signaling a major step forward for the project. Chu, fresh off the $756 million success of Wicked: Part One and its upcoming sequel Wicked: For Good, due November 2025, is no stranger to adapting beloved properties into visually spectacular, emotionally resonant films. His track record, from In the Heights to G.I. Joe: Retaliation, proves he can balance blockbuster spectacle with narrative depth, making him an ideal choice for a film that must transform a toy line with no inherent story into a compelling cinematic experience.
Screenwriters Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier (Creed II, They Cloned Tyrone) have been tapped to craft the script, with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot producing. While plot details remain under wraps, Mattel Studios President Robbie Brenner promises a film that captures "the heart, adrenaline, and spirit of Hot Wheels," suggesting a blend of high-speed action and emotional stakes.
The announcement arrives amid a wave of toy-based adaptations following the unprecedented success of Barbie, which made $1.44 billion worldwide. Mattel is aggressively mining its IP catalog, with films in development for Polly Pocket, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Uno, and Masters of the Universe. But Hot Wheels stands out as a particularly ambitious gamble: unlike Barbie, which had decades of character-driven narratives—however fragmented—Hot Wheels is, at its core, a brand about sleek cars and imaginative play, not story.
The rocky history of toy adaptations
Hollywood’s relationship with toy-based films has been notoriously uneven. The 1980s saw mixed results with Masters of the Universe (1987), a box-office flop that later gained cult status, and The Transformers: The Movie (1986), which underperformed theatrically but laid the groundwork for the billion-dollar Michael Bay franchise.
The 2000s and 2010s brought highs (Transformers, G.I. Joe) and embarrassing lows (Battleship, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie). Even recent attempts like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ($439 million worldwide on a $200M budget) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ($208 million against a $150M budget) struggled to turn a theatrical profit, raising questions about inflated budgets and audience fatigue.
Yet Barbie’s success, fueled by Greta Gerwig’s subversive, auteur-driven approach, proved that toy movies could be both artistically daring and commercially colossal. Mattel now seems eager to replicate that formula, betting that strong filmmakers + nostalgic IP = box-office gold.
The rise of "blank slate" IPs
Hot Wheels isn’t alone in its lack of built-in narrative. The recent box-office smash Minecraft movie and even the baffling Skibidi Toilet project (yes, really) suggest Hollywood is increasingly willing to adapt properties with no story at all. This trend mirrors the video game boom (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Sonic the Hedgehog, Five Nights at Freddy’s), where studios bank on brand recognition over pre-existing lore.
Chu’s challenge with Hot Wheels will be to invent a story worthy of the toy’s legacy—something akin to The Lego Movie (2014), which turned a construction toy into a meta-commentary on creativity. If he succeeds, it could further legitimize Hollywood’s IP frenzy. If it flops, it may reinforce skepticism about cash-grab adaptations.
The future of cinema: Art vs. IP
While the "mini-renaissance of toy cinema" is undeniable, it raises concerns about original storytelling’s place in theaters. As Parrot Analytics notes, 71% of top-grossing films in recent years were franchise-based, with audiences consistently favoring familiarity over risk.
Yet there’s room for both. Barbie and Oppenheimer’s simultaneous success ("Barbenheimer") proved that audiences crave originality alongside nostalgia. The key, as Chu himself has demonstrated, is vision, whether adapting a toy or crafting something wholly new.
For now, Hot Wheels represents another high-stakes roll of Hollywood’s IP dice. If it works, expect more toy aisles to become multiplex attractions. If it crashes? Well, at least we’ll always have Barbie 2.