The Funko Pop! toys are going to get their own movie
Funko, the toy company behind the vast and collectible range of Funko Pop! figures, is heading for the big screen.
Warner Bros has signed a deal with the firm, according to The Wrap, to make an animated movie.
Perhaps eyeing up the success of their Lego movies, there's some serious 'corporate synergy' at work here.
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Funko already licenses huge amounts of intellectual property either from or via Warner Bros, including DC characters from Batman and Wonder Woman through to Harry Potter, all of which appear in Funko form.
Disney veteran Mark Dindal, who has worked on movies from The Little Mermaid and Aladdin to Chicken Little is working on the story along with former Pixar artist Teddy Newton.
Founded by Mike Becker, the Funko range first appeared in 1998, playing into the collectible nostalgia market, making its distinctive looking 'bobblehead' figures of business mascots like Tony the Tiger and the Cheerios bee mascot.
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After it was sold in 2005, the company began licensing other properties in earnest, and has now created over 13,500 different products, encompassing the likes of the DC Universe, Marvel, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Spongebob Squarepants, Star Wars and Harry Potter.
Thanks to its instantly recognisable products, the company's revenue now tops $500 million.
Warner Bros made a similar success of such multi-franchise licensing with its Lego Movie in 2014, and the sequels The Lego Movie 2 and The Lego Batman Movie, getting off to great start by hiring 21 Jump Street writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to pen the scripts and later produce.