Vin Diesel to star in Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots movie for Universal

News
By published

Vin Diesel is keeping in with the Universal family

Vin Diesel in Fast and Furious
(Image credit: Universal Studios)

Vin Diesel is sticking with family or, instead, the studio that produces the Fast and Furious movies. Diesel is set to star in and produce a live-action feature version of the famous Mattel tabletop boxing game Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.  

Ryan Engle, the writer behind the Rampage movie – which starred Diesel’s Fast and Furious castmate and Black Adam star, Dwyane Johnson –  is set to pen the screenplay for the action-adventure. As reported by Variety, the story is said to follow a father and son who form an unlikely bond with an advanced war machine. A plot that is not to be mixed up with Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel from 2011. 

Mattel Films is teaming up with Universal to produce and has other works on live-action adaptations of their other game and toy IPs, including Barbie, Barney, and Magic 8 Ball. 

Hot Wheels is also including in that list, recently hiring rising screenwriting duo Neil Widener and Gavin James to pen the screenplay for the live-action feature take on the iconic toy cars. The hiring of the writers was the first significant development for the title since Warner teamed with Mattel in January 2019 to develop and produce a big-screen project.

On the Universal side, the company is developing a feature version of the popular 90s tv series Wishbone and gearing up for the release of Fast and Furious 9, which finally hit theaters going a quarter mile an hour on June 25. 

Read more: Fast and Furious 9 director Justin Lin breaks down the new trailer with GamesRadar+  

Stephanie Williams

Stephanie is a comic book historian and pop culture critic for publications including SYFYFANGRRLS, Marvel, The A.V. Club, Nerdist, Den of Geek, and Rotten Tomatoes. Stephanie is also a comic creator with three ongoing webcomics, Parenthood Activate!, But What If Though?, and Living Heroes. She made her Marvel debut with a short story featuring Monica Rambeau in Marvel’s Voices: Legacy. She recently made her DC Comics debut in Wonder Woman Black and Gold #2 and is co-writing the Nubia and the Amazons miniseries.