A 'My Little Pony' Movie Heads to Theaters in 2017

Blame the Bronies for this one. Somehow, someway, My Little Pony has endured for the last 30 years, and like its Habro bretheren G.I. Joe, the Transformers, and even Jem and the Holograms, it's experiencing a popularity resurgence. My Little Pony has a hit animated series, video games, comic books, and of course toys, and now it's going to have a big screen feature to go along with it.

According to Variety, Hasbro Studios is moving ahead on a My Little Pony film, which they hope to see released on "the broadest possible number of screens".  Like Jem and the Holograms it will be produced under Hasbro's new Allspark Pictures label, with Blumhouse Productions co-financing. Joe Ballerini (Ice Age: Continental Drift) has been hired to write the screenplay, which better pass the Brony test otherwise there could be a riot. For those who don't know, "Bronies" are grown men who have, for whatever reason, become passionate fans obsessed of My Little Pony and the animated show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. A documentary was even made about them, and it's more disturbing than anything you're likely to see.

There aren't any plot details, nor any information on if the film will share continuity with the TV series. It's just the latest step in Hasbro's attempts to cash in on their most popular franchises. Transformers and G.I. Joe have performed well over the years, while last year's Battleship turned out to be a big-budget dud. Hasbro's next film is Jem and the Holograms, which opens in 2015.

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You thought it was over? Michael Bay in "active" talks with Hasbro for fourth Transformers film

Did you really think Michael Bay would slip quietly into the world of small movies and Indie Spirit Awards? Get real. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the fourth highest grossing movie of all-time at over $1.1B. Yeah, that's with a 'B'. And even though he, and various members of the cast, have said they were finished with the Autobot/Decpticon war, money always gets the last word.

THR reports that Habro Prez and CEO Brian Goldner revealed in a conference call that the toy company is in "active discussions" with Bay, exec-producer Steven Spielberg, and Paramount about a fourth film n the franchise. The hope is to have more info in the next quarter.

Bay is currently at work on his low budget(for him anyway) crime flick, Pain and Gain, something he's been wanting to tackle for a long time.

Hasbro also noted that they're still in the process of building their brand as a movie making entity. Goldner noted that reports of the death of board game adaptation, Ouija, are false. The film's budget has simply been reworked to make it viable. The company has Battleship due out next year, and is still working on the Stretch Armstrong(with Taylor Lautner) and Candyland flicks. Scripts for Micronauts(with JJ Abrams), Clue, Monopoly, and Risk are also underway.

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