Universal may have passed on developing a movie based on Hasbro’s Stretch Armstrong toy as part of the studio’s overall deal with the toy manufacturer, but Relativity is certainly interested in the prospect. Relativity announced today that they are picking up the option to make a film based on the rubbery hero.
It is not known how much of the work that was done at Universal will carry over to the new project, but the Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog is reporting that star Taylor Lautner and director Rob Letterman, who were attached to the project while it was at Universal, have dropped out.
The Stretch Armstrong was being developed at Universal as part of a 2008 package deal that is bringing us the summer tent-pole picture Battleship this coming summer. The studio has already shot down films based on Ouija, Clue, Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering after trying to develop scripts that they liked. Hasbro now has the option to shop any of these properties to other studios.
Originally introduced onto store shelves in 1976, the Stretch Armstrong toy’s primary appeal was the fact that you could stretch his arms and legs and they would resume their original position. As a toy, the figure came with no real playability backstory, leaving the character a blank slate for moviemakers.
The movie is set for an April 11, 2014 release.
