A movie inspired by Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars is finally speeding toward production, with Now You See Me 3 writers Neil Widener and Gavin James getting behind the wheel to pen a new screenplay. A Hot Wheels movie has been circling for nearly 20 years, at various points being developed by filmmakers McG (Terminator Salvation), Joel Silver (The Matrix, The Nice Guys) and Justin Lin (Star Trek Beyond, the Fast and Furious franchise). But no one seemed to crack the code for how to bring the iconic toy cars to the big screen—until now.

Per THR, Warner Bros. invited several writers to come up with their takes on a Hot Wheels movie, with Widener and James beating many more established writers across the finish line. The duo's on something of a hot streak lately, thanks to their work on the third Now You See Me and a sequel to San Andreas, as well as an update of Romeo and Juliet, titled Verona.

So far, the details of their winning idea are being kept under wraps. But we do know that Mattel Films head Robbie Brenner is producing the project, which she brought to Warner Bros. last year, following a slew of toy-based movie adaptations that have ranged from big hit (The LEGO Movie) to big flop (Playmobil: The Movie).


While the announcement of new writers is getting Hot Wheels fans revved up, they should proceed with caution. Warner Bros. has not announced a start date for production on the movie or hired a director, and it's also worth noting that despite Widener and James' scripting contributions, there is still no word on when fans might actually see Now You See Me 3 or San Andreas 2.