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Sandler's Happy Madison Will Make an Animated 'Tonka Trucks' Film

by Ben Pearson
June 11, 2012
Source: Deadline

Despite the disappointing Battleship not exactly living up to its summer blockbuster title, Hollywood continues to develop movies based on brands instead of actual stories. Universal has smartly severed ties with Hasbro, but it looks like Sony is picking up right where they left off. The studio is already developing a movie based on the Candy Land board game with Adam Sandler set to star, and now Sony is teaming with Happy Madison again to bring something a bit more unexpected to life. Deadline reports that a deal has been made to bring childhood favorite Tonka Trucks to the big screen in an animated film of their own.

Tonka will be written by frequent Happy Madison collaborator Fred Wolf, whose credits include Joe Dirt, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Strange Wilderness, Grown Ups, and the upcoming Grown Ups 2. Ugh. He apparently has a fascinating take on what it means to be "Tonka tough," using the brand's slogan and likely marking a new low in the company's history. Do kids even still play with Tonka trucks anymore? They've been around for a long time and I'm sure some of you used to roll them around back in the day, but I don't know how relevant they are to modern kids. This could turn out to be something like a knock-off of Cars, but honestly it just sounds like another Battleship all over again where an out-of-touch studio forces merchandising on their audiences in a movie. When will Hollywood learn?

Filed under Development, Movie News

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