dex14

http://deadline.com/2018/04/mask-f-g...on-1202367320/

Mabuse

This shit is straight up my alley. I had loads of MASK toys growing up. They were better than GI Joe in many ways. Great fun. Please don’t fuck it up.

DVD Josh

I mean, I loved MASK but the show was only a vehicle to sell the toys (maybe even more so than He-Man, GI Joe, Centurions, etc.)

I'm not sure enough nostalgia exists for MASK to make this work.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, it was a c-list toy line with a c-list cartoon.

From what I remember, it was sort of a mash-up between G.I Joe and Transformers, the two most popular toy lines and cartoons of the 80s; fairly cynical of whoever came up with it.

Sonic

I don't remember Mask. This sounds kinda lame though. Bring us He-Man instead.

Abob Teff

Don’t take this personally Josh, but ... fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you and the horse-that-turns-into-a-hovercycle you rode in here on.

As for ruining this ... the article said it will have a youth empowerment angle ... here comes T-Bob and Scott.

fujishig

The weird thing is, they can't even make a toyline work, you'd think they'd at least try that first. I think the comic series kinda bombed.

BuddyRevell

They should cast Jack Nicholson as the guy who sounded like Jack Nicholson.

tanman

I have to agree. I'm not deep in MASK lore but I don't think there is nearly as much to work with as GI Joe and Transformers. It was really just a toy line based on a single gimmick.

Eh...they made a movie about Rampage though so what do I know.

If there's any 80's cartoon/toy line that would make a really kick ass movie:

Mondo Kane

“MASK will be right back...And so will VENOM”

fujishig

I loved Dino Riders, but that's even more obscure.

Isn't this part of that multiverse thing they were going to try to launch with GI Joe, Visionaries, Micronauts and ROM? I have no idea why they keep trying this, I seem to remember Hasbro trying to get a line of board game movies out before Battleship tanked that. Like I said before, they should at least try to successfully revive these lines as toys first, maybe a new cartoon to get crossover appeal, because a MASK movie driven only on nostalgia doesn't seem like a recipe for success.

zero

100% THIS!! It's only in my adulthood that I can appreciate Frank Langella's Skeletor performance, it was GOLD! Nostalgia aside, I would kill for a new He-Man movie.

tanman

More obscure yes. But my point is the premise would make a more kick ass movie. There is more potential story there than what is simply a toy gimmick with MASK.

And yes there was supposed to be some kind of multiverse with all those properties but again I think the toy manufacturers are kind of taking advantage of the studios. They want to get their properties made into a movie to sell toys and the studios are wanting a next big franchise hit but they forget they actually need a decent story/universe to play in for it to be interesting for the audience. That's why Transformers was so successful (and would be even more so if they reboot it without Bay) because people come for the gimmick but stay for the story of the Autobots vs. Decepticons and iconic characters like Optimus. Even GI Joe which is a very well known property and has a lot of iconic characters failed to resonate with fans. I don't see how these obscure gimmicky toy lines could translate well into a movie. And I think they put way too much emphasis on the fan base. This isn't Star Wars/Trek or Marvel/DC they don't have to worry about the fan base. Just make a decent entertaining movie and people will go see it.

Now with Dinoriders I couldn't tell you a single character's name outside of Krulos but just that image alone and you can see the potential for an awesome movie if done right. Hell they don't even have to do it right and people would show up for the spectacle of battling mechanized dinosaurs.

Another kids toy line that would make a great movie would be Exo-Squad. That show was ahead of it's time.

Rob V

I grew up in this era and never heard of MASK.

Timber

It was my favorite cartoon for a stretch. I'd race home after school just to get to watch the second half as it came on right when school let out.

candyrocket786

I'm onboard. The cartoon was fantastic.

fujishig

I'm not sure the Bayverse is an interesting universe, it was more that huge transforming robots fighting each other was apparently compelling enough to the populace as a blockbuster. I think you could make transforming vehicles with modern cgi look pretty cool, and the MASK guys are basically superheroes, so I don't think the IP is necessarily terrible for this, but it would have to stand above just the nostalgia for the IP itself because while Transformers has been around in some form or another for a long, long time, MASK certainly hasn't.

Dino Riders is a cool concept and I'm surprised they never brought back the toys as a concept, but they would have to work really really hard to make it not seem cheesy.

Exo Squad would be cool, but if you're going to do that just do Macross or Gundam or something, and do it well. I really wish the Wachowski's Speed Racer had done better, I'd much prefer Western anime/property adaptations like that.

They should bring back C.O.P.S., though the cops would probably be the bad guys...

faust69

Like most 80s toons, MASK was an obvious toy commercial, but the vehicles were super-cool to a kid like me back then and the theme song is one of the most memorable of the 80s cartoons.

james2025a

F. Gary Gray. Ok. It will end up being an average at best movie then. Guy is a go too director to play it safe and not provide any flare.

I do have a soft spot for MASK and could see it has potential as a cash cow if done right. I would love to see a good movie adaptation of the Zoids from the 80s. I loved the design of those things.

Abob Teff

I don’t feel like trying to delete most of Tanman’s post for one line, so I’m just quoting him like this:

“That's why Transformers was so successful (and would be even more so if they reboot it without Bay) because people come for the gimmick but stay for the story of the Autobots vs. Decepticons and iconic characters like Optimus.”

Josh-da-man

Okay, b-list.

I barely remember M.A.S.K. They might not have run the cartoon where I lived.

I remember mostly watching Transformers, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks, and Masters of the Universe, though MOTU seemed a little too "kiddie" for my tastes at the time.

Oh, and there was Jace and the Wheeled Warriors, too, which seemed sort cool and different, but it was on early in the morning and I missed most of them.

And then stuff like Inhumanoids and Visionaries that seemingly failed to capture anyone's imagination.

Oh, and a Rambo one, too. Which is really weird when you think about it. Like someone watched First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II and thought "That would make a great cartoon to sell toys!"

fujishig

I mean, the 80s and 90s were filled with random, weird cartoons.
Turboteen: a dude could turn into a car if he got really hot, and back if he got really cold
Fred and Barney meet the Thing: a boy found a ring that turned him into the Thing from the FF
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
The Toxic Avenger
Swamp Thing
Robocop
Mr T.: he went around with a bunch of kid gymnasts fighting crime
Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos
Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling: featuring real life pimp Fabulous Moolah
Dinosaucers: Talking dinosaurs from outer space. Each had their own signature spaceship, tailor made for a toyline. There were no toys.
Rubik the Amazing Cube
Tigersharks: because they already did lion men and hawk men
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: Ok, this one was live action, the draw being that the screen would flash a certain way during the show and you could point your toy ship at the screen and play along. To this day I have no idea how it worked.

Mabuse

Captain Power was the greatest toy ever.

Inhumans99

I never watched the show but I believe I used to see ads for it all the time in the comics I read growing up.

tanman

I mean successful in terms of the BO. And love it or hate it it has been successful there as a whole. I think the movies are terrible, except for the passable first one, and the audience is finally catching on as evidenced by the BO for the last one.

My point is that they wouldn't have been as successful if it was just based on the gimmick of a transforming toy. You have to have a compelling story/characters/universe to capture an audience if they want to turn an IP into a series of movies. People who don't know anything about Transformers know who Optimus Prime is and that he's the red truck. No one knows what MASK is or can name a character from the show and the gimmick isn't strong enough to support a movie. This is all my opinion of course.