While many film-goers don’t pay attention to the names of the companies that appear on the screen before their favorite blockbuster begins, there has been a pretty alarming trend with the major Hollywood studios in recent years. As Disney seems to get bigger, with numerous blockbusters every year, some studios, like Paramount, are struggling to even have one hit movie. And as Paramount struggles for relevancy in the modern blockbuster marketplace, they have begun to get a little desperate.
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According to a recent report by Deadline, Paramount has signed “Ready Player One” writer Zak Penn to adapt “ROM: Spaceknight” for a feature film. ‘ROM’ is a film that has been long-rumored to be in development, as Paramount and Hasbro (the toy company that has the rights for “Transformers,” “G.I. Joe,” and a variety of other properties) are desperate to find their next big franchise. Sadly, on paper, ‘ROM’ just isn’t the biggest name to launch a franchise with. At this point, Paramount is just trying to find something to turn their luck around.
‘ROM’ is based on the comic book series and, as with most of Hasbro’s properties, a toy line of the same name. The story follows ROM, who is, as you might guess, a robot spaceknight, who battles Dire Wraith on Earth and in space. The toys and comics are very much a product of their time, with little-to-no relevance in 2018. Perhaps, it’s that sort of blank slate that Paramount and Hasbro need to create something worthwhile.
It’s been rumored that Paramount was hoping to tie ‘ROM’ in with “Transformers,” “G.I. Joe,” and “Micronauts” to form a massive shared universe, a la the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, “G.I. Joe” never was able to gain traction as a film franchise, and “Transformers” seems to be on a fairly steep decline, with reports suggesting that Paramount is ready to reboot. It could be that ‘ROM’ will become their “Iron Man” and kickstart a new era of Hasbro properties on the big screen.
And if anyone is going to do it, then Zak Penn seems like about as good of a writer as you can hire for the project. Penn is responsible for many sci-fi/fantasy genre films such as the aforementioned “Ready Player One,” “The Avengers,” and various ‘X-Men’ films. His IMDb isn’t necessarily filled with guaranteed winners, but Paramount could do a hell of a lot worse.
So, is ‘ROM’ going to be the shot in the arm for the struggling studio? That remains to be seen. However, Paramount is truly pulling its hair out trying to find their next franchise, and this news is further proof of that.
