Apple TV has released a first look at upcoming star-studded action flick Matchbox: The Movie, inspired by Mattel’s slot car racing toys and starring John Cena in the lead role.
The unofficial MCU – the Mattel Cinematic Universe, that is – is stomping on the pedal after the success of Barbie, now taking onto the Matchbox brand with a spy story led by the Peacemaker star.
Behind the camera sits Extraction’s Sam Hargrave, also known for being a stunt coordinator on several Marvel movies.
The film, set for a 9 October release on the streamer, is written by David Coggeshall and Jonathan Tropper, with the latter returning to Apple TV after creating TV series Your Friends & Neighbors.
Described as “an action-packed, globetrotting adventure”, the film follows a group of childhood friends whose lives are upended when their former leader, undercover CIA agent Sean (Cena), returns to their small town. Chaos ensues when Sean unwittingly ropes the gang in an international pursuit to save the world.
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Cena is joined by Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Teyonah Parris and Arturo Castro, with supporting roles played by Black Panther star Danai Gurira, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s Corey Stoll, Bill Camp and Golshifteh Farahani.
While there are currently no plans of a third season of Peacemaker, Cena was recently seen in Apple TV’s acclaimed series Pluribus, from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan.
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Better Call Saul star Rhea Seehorn plays protagonist Carol Sturka, a romance author who finds herself at a loss when an alien virus transforms the whole of humanity – except for her and 12 others immune to the ‘joining’ – into a content hive mind.
Cena appears as himself, though now part of the hive mind, in episode six, ‘HDP’, following a disturbing revelation in the previous chapter.
Matchbox: The Movie premieres on Apple TV on 9 October.
Pluribus streams on the same platform.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.Â
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).Â