John Cena is set to star in a film by Apple Original Films titled Matchbox. The film, directed by Sam Hargrave, is inspired by Mattel’s real-world die-cast toy vehicle line. David Coggeshall and Jonathan Tropper will jointly pen the screenplay.
Matchbox will be produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, and Robbie Brenner.
This film adds to many projects announced by Mattel post the success of Barbie (2023), including Masters of the Universe, Thomas & Friends: The Movie, Bob the Builder, and Hot Wheels.
Primarily a stunt coordinator for films like Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Deadpool 2 (2018) and Suicide Squad (2016), Hargrave has also directed action films like Extraction (2020) and its sequel Extraction 2 (2023). Cena, on the other hand, has Heads of State directed by Ilya Naishuller in the pipeline, which he also executive produced.