Yes, the Hasbro cinematic universe is alive and well. Thanks to their partnership with Paramount, the toy company is moving full steam ahead in adapting their most popular products into franchises.
They’ll be continuing their G.I. Joe and Transformers franchises, and already have movies based on Micronauts and Dungeons & Dragons in the works, but in a surprising move, there’s been movement on an adaptation of one of their lesser known properties, ROM The Spaceknight.
Per Deadline, Ready Player One screenwriter Zak Penn has been hired to pen the script for ROM, which is somewhat surprising because Penn wasn’t a part of the initial writer’s room that was set up as a sort of braintrust whose purpose was to hash out ideas for all these Hasbro films.
It might point to the fact that Penn signing on was already in the works before the writer’s room was set up. Unfortunately there are no other details, and ROM doesn’t even have a release date yet, although Hasbro/Paramount does have an untitled “event” film on the books for a 2021 release.
ROM The Spaceknight was originally created by Scott Dankman, Richard C. Levy, and Bryan L. McCoy. He’s a cosmic cyborg superhero and was seen as a departure from the Hasbro’s board-game friendly image when he debuted in 1979, before spawning his own comic book at Marvel with the hope of pumping up awareness and sales numbers.
The comic eventually outlasted the run of the original toy, and the Marvel take on the character saw ROM have origins in the utopian society on the planet Galador, before having to lead the technologically advanced Galadorians into a battle against the dark-magic powered Dire Wraiths. ROM also has plenty of gadgets on hand such as a Neutralizer and an Analyzer.
Clearly, there’s plenty of story to be mined here and probably a new line of ROM toys to sell to a new generation of kids. It’s still an odd property for Hasbro/Paramount to pick as one of their next major event films, but perhaps they’re sensing audience fatigue for their better-known products such as Transformers.
#Peace.Love.ROM
