KEY POINTS:
Superman and Spiderman are worn out; TV formats are old hat; we've had rom-coms, book adaptations and gross-out comedy. Now Hollywood has turned to children's games, with already-familiar titles and heroes, to bring crowds into the cinemas.
The 2007 success of Transformers, starring Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf,
opened studio executives' eyes to the power of children's toys and games.
The blockbuster film not only took US$708 million ($1.34 billion) in cinema receipts, but introduced a new generation of children to the 1980s toy it was based on - Hasbro's shape-shifting vehicles that can be turned into robots.
Two sequels are on the way; Revenge of the Fallen will reunite the two stars in June and Transformers III is scheduled for release in 2011.
Such is the potential of traditional board games that Universal has a deal with Hasbro to make live-action versions of Ouija, Battleship and Monopoly. The film of the property board game is in development with Ridley Scott, the UK director of Gladiator and Blade Runner, at the helm as producer.
A film based on the American version of Action Man, called GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, will be released this year. The cartoon action figure He-Man is also in the pipeline. The biggest of them all, however, could be the film version of Barbie. Film-makers are said to be at loggerheads over the rights to Mattel's best-selling toy. With an animated series selling 62 million DVDs, it is no wonder.
Said veteran film critic Barry Norman: "Hollywood is a business, and its business is to give the public what the public already likes. So they made films out of well-known books and plays, successful TV series and comic-strip heroes. It is a logical progression, especially as young people need attracting back to the cinema. It is a bit depressing, however.
"Film is such a great medium. You'd like to think it was breaking new ground, and it's not. It doesn't mean you get a bad film, but one of the best films last year was In Bruges, which was totally original."
Ian Freer, the assistant editor of Empire magazine, added that the advantage for film-makers was the brand recognition toys can bring: "If you use a well-known brand then that's half the battle won. People know what it's about so it's easier to sell.
"And there's no reason why you can't make a good, ambitious film with depth. The Dark Knight, for example, used the established brand of Batman, but is as good as any film out there. Transformers is a good popcorn movie, and who wouldn't want to watch Ridley Scott's version of Monopoly?
"You do wonder whether in 20 years' time we'll still be recycling these same characters. But if you put them in Empire, the sales go up. It's what the core group of film-goers - the 16 to 24 age group - want."
- INDEPENDENT