Hasbro takes on Mattel in new Amazon series
David Farnor | On 24, Sep 2016
Hasbro will take on Mattel in a new original series from Amazon.
Called Toy Wars, the mini-series will be based on the non-fiction book Toy Wars: The Epic Struggle Between G.I. Joe, Barbie, and the Companies that Make Them by G. Wayne Miller. It will chronicle the battle between the two two giants in the 1980s and 1990s, as Hasbro wheels out Transformers and My Little Pony to compete with Mattel’s rival Barbie.
The project is created by Frozen’s Josh Gad, The OC’s Josh Schwartz and Seth Gordon. Gad and Scwartz will co-write the programme with Ryan Dixon, while Gordon will direct.
Deadline reports that the show is a personal project for Schwartz, who will act as showrunner. Indeed, Miller’s book stemmed from five years of unrivalled access to Hasbro, quizzing staff and attending meetings. The book features interviews with a number of real-life people, such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. One of them is Stephen Schwartz, Josh’s dad, who was dubbed one of Hasbro’s “Three Musketeers”.
The OC creator was therefore keen to work on the series, after hearing that
Gad and Schwartz were selling the project to Amazon Studios.
Gad, Dixon and Miller will exec produce alongside Schwartz and partner Stephanie Savage through their company Fake Empire, Gordon through Exhibit A, plus Story By Entertainment’s Michael Prevett. Lis Rowinski, who heads television for Fake Empire, and Exibit A’s Mary Rohlich are credited as co-exec producers.
The pilot reunites Gad and Dixon, who previously co-wrote the script for Twins sequel Triplets. It also reunites Gordon with Amazon, who helmed the pilot for Amazon original drama Sneaky Pete. Schwartz and Savage, meanwhile, are no strangers to streaming, as their Marvel’s Runaways series is heading to Hulu.
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