Tom Hanks May Star in Mattel’s Live-Action Movie About the Toy that Inspired Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear

Move over, Lightyear: there's a new movie about the toy that inspired Pixar's Buzz Lightyear headed to a screen near us soon. (And this time, theatergoers might get to see Tom Hanks in an astronaut suit instead of hearing Chris Evans' voice acting.)

Per a New Yorker feature published Monday about Mattel's plans to go from a toy manufacturer to a pop culture phenomenon maker, part of that brand expansion will include a live-action, action-figure-to-screen adaptation of the 1966 plastic spaceman, Major Matt Mason, with Oscar winner Tom Hanks reportedly attached to star as the leading astronaut. While news of the film was first unveiled in 2019, Mattel had kept development details on the down low until this New Yorker interview, which confirms it is still in the works.

Representatives for Hanks did not immediately respond to The Messenger's request for comment.

Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who previously worked with Hanks on The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, remains on board to adapt the script from a short story about Major Matt Mason from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon. Mattel Films is co-producing with Goldsman's banner, Weed Road Pictures, and Hanks' production banner, Playtone. Major Matt Mason (official title TBD) is currently housed at Paramount Pictures.

Major Matt Mason is an astronaut who lives and works on the moon with a diverse space crew that tackles alien villains and attempts to forge bonds with alien allies. Major Matt Mason is part of Mattel's "Men in Space" toy line, which coincided with the space race of the '60s. The character most memorably inspired Pixar's Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise. (And it's likely that the Major Matt Mason movie will get meta-referential, given that Mattel owns the rights to Toy Story playthings.)

Other movies based on Mattel's IP currently being developed for the big screen include Barney, Hot Wheels, American Girl, Big Jim, Chatty Cathy and Betsy Wetsy, Christmas Balloon, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox, Polly Pocket, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Thomas & Friends, Uno, View-Master, Wishbone, and of course, July's hotly-anticipated and much-buzzed-about Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and a bevy of other celebrities and A-listers.