Hasbro Hopes Stretch Armstrong Has Transformers Mojo (HAS)

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ-HAS) has partnered with Relativity Media to develop and produce a new movie based upon the Stretch Armstrong character.  The action hero figure dates back to the 1970s. 

If all goes well, the film is currently targeted for April 2011 as a release date. If you know much about movies, release dates two years out can change many times.  In fact, some films end up sitting ‘in the can’ depending upon a myriad of factors. Relativity will be the domestic distributor and will release the film internationally through its network of foreign output partners.  The film will be produced by Relativity’s CEO, Ryan Kavanaugh, Hasbro’s Goldner (behind Transformers) and others. 

For those of you who are younger, Stretch Armstrong was an action hero figure launched in 1976 by Hasbro, and then the character was re-launched in the 1990s. Needless to say, Stretch Armstrong should have a warning stating “Don’t try this at home” for its moves.

Hasbro was quick to note that Transformers together with the G.I. Joe franchise has seen nearly $3 billion in movie ticket sales for the four films in recent years.  It is hard to imagine that this will be even close to the same impact as the Transformers franchise, but who knows.