Hollywood may never recreate the success of Barbie, but execs at Story Kitchen have landed on a bold new strategy: why not make a movie about the store that used to sell the Barbies? That’s gotta work, right? Either way, Toys ‘R’ Us is getting an original movie “in the vein of Night At The Museum, Back To The Future or Big, plus other successful toy-inspired narratives like Jumanji and Barbie,” per Variety. Considering the vast variety of toys (and that giant dinosaur that used to rule the Times Square flagship location), the producers may want to add Five Nights At Freddy’s to that description, but we’ll see how terrifying, intentionally or not, the movie is when it actually comes out.
Of course, uncanny valley-esque horror isn’t what the company—currently staging a comeback after a high-profile bankruptcy in 2018—is going for. “As Toys ‘R’ Us’ first film, this project is an exciting opportunity to bring the magic of our brand to the big screen,” said Kim Miller Olko, president of Toys’R’Us Studios, in a statement. “It will be a journey as boundless as play itself, evoking the electric sense of wonder that is the essence of Toy ‘R’ Us. This story will capture the imagination, adventure and joy that has made Toys ‘R’ Us a destination for kids of all ages.” The film will aim to capture the “spirit of adventure, creativity and nostalgia that Toys’R’Us represents,” added Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson & Mike Goldberg.
Story Kitchen previously developed the Sonic The Hedgehog films, so the studio definitely knows how to take nostalgic IP and turn it into box office dollars. Whether or not the “company movie” strategy actually works, Hollywood is going all in. A Hershey movie—about the founders and their community service, not the park or the chocolate itself—was just announced a few weeks ago, and films like Blackberry, Air, and Unfrosted aren’t far in the rearview. We’ll never get to go back to pre-private equity Toys ‘R’ Us, but at least this movie may show us what we’re missing.
