Mutant superhero Toxie is going mainstream.
Legendary Entertainment has acquired feature film rights to The Toxic Avenger, with a reboot of the iconic Troma horror franchise in the works. Original directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Kaufman’s iconic b-movie studio Troma Entertainment will serve as producers on the new film.
Troma founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, who directed the original 1984 movie, will produce the new movie project.N.J., and centered on a mild-mannered janitor at a health club who’s chased out a second story window by bullies and lands in a drum of toxic waste. The chemicals cause him to transform into the Toxic Avenger, who has superhuman size and strength and stands up to bullies and corruption.
“The Toxic Avenger” became successful after a long run as a midnight movie in New York City, leading to the sequels “The Toxic Avenger Part II,” “The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie,” and “Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.” The property also became a stage musical production, a children’s cartoon TV series, and a Marvel comic.
Legendary’s upcoming titles include “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and the live-action “Detective Pikachu” — which will both be released in 2019 — and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which is in pre-production for a May 2020 release. Recent Legendary titles include “Skyscraper,” “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “Kong: Skull Island,” and “The Great Wall.”
