The Best Movies Based On Toys
For many blockbuster movie franchises, selling tickets is just a part of turning a profit - the real money is in selling toys and other products based on the film. Tie-ins with toys have proven so lucrative in Hollywood that studios have begun to reverse-engineer this formula, taking toy lines that are already popular and producing movies based on them. From the Transformers series to The Lego Movie, the film industry has found that turning a profit on audiences' nostalgia for the toys of their youth is child's play.
Plenty of movies tell stories about fictional toys, like Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, the eponymous board game from Jumanji, or Turbo Man from Jingle All the Way. The movies on this list are based on preexisting toys, bringing the plastic playthings from our childhoods to life on the big screen. That includes not just dolls and action figures like Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe, but also board games like Clue, Battleship, and Dungeons and Dragons.
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Starring: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren
Released: 1985
Toy it's based on: Board game currently published by Hasbro
Cluedo, or Clue in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players, devised by Anthony E. Pratt from Birmingham, England and currently published by the United States game and toy ...more - 2
Bumblebee
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon
Released: 2018
Toy it's based on: Hasbro action figures
Bumblebee is a 2018 American science fiction action film directed by Travis Knight, based on the Transformers' character. In 1987, Bumblebee takes refuge in a small California beach town junkyard ...more Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Zach Galafianakis
Released: 2014
Toy it's based on: Lego construction blocks
Emmet (Chris Pratt), an ordinary LEGO figurine who always follows the rules, is mistakenly identified as the Special -- an extraordinary being and the key to saving the world. He finds himself ...moreStarring: Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro, Jon Voight
Released: 2007
Toy it's based on: Hasbro action figures
The fate of humanity is at stake when two races of robots, the good Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, bring their war to Earth. The robots have the ability to change into different mechanical ...moreStarring: Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Dennis Quaid, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Released: 2009
Toy it's based on: Hasbro toy franchise
Armed with the latest in military and spy technology, the team of elite soldiers known as G.I. Joe travel around the globe to wherever their services are needed. In their latest assignment Gen. Hawk ...moreStarring: Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand
Released: 2011
Toy it's based on: Hasbro action figures
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his new girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), join the fray when the evil Decepticons renew their longstanding war against the Autobots. Optimus Prime (Peter ...more
