DRAGON Trainer to Build MICRONAUTS
Dean DeBlois, the filmmaker behind the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, is set to write and direct the new Micronauts film from Paramount Pictures. Brian Goldner, Stephen Davis and Greg Mooradian are producing through Hasbro’s film division, AllSpark Pictures.
This will be DeBlois’ live action debut and his first project following his run on the Dragon trilogy. He made his feature film debut with the Disney animated picture Lilo & Stitch, co-directing with Chris Sanders. The Hollywood Reporter reports that DeBlois’ history in animation, especially the Dragon films, will match the family-friendly tone Paramount and Hasbro want for Micronauts.
Micronauts is a toy line about a series of microscopic worlds that are linked together into a single kingdom led by an evil dictator who murdered the previous royal family. The main characters are a group of adventurers from different walks of life (a robot, a space bug, a gladiator, etc.) that attempt to stop said evil dictator.
The Micronauts were an American version of the Microman toy line created in Japan by toy company Takara, and was manufactured and marketed in the United States by Mego. Marvel Comics created a storyline for the toys via a series of comics. Said comics focused on defeating the evil dictator that ruled over the connected realms, though it did have some crossovers with Marvel characters like the Fantastic Four and the Wasp.
Previously, J.J. Abrams was supposed to oversee the development of a film adaptation; however, both he and the original writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, left the project a few years ago for unknown reasons. This movie is meant to be a fresh, new take on the franchise. How this new take will differ from previous Micronauts films has not been stated, but the movie is allegedly about a group of inter-dimensional travelers, which is similar to the original premise of the comic books.
The film is set to release on January 4th, 2021.
