'Hot Wheels' movie finds its writers

Warner Bros is revving Hot Wheels once again as the studio has hired rising screenwriting duo Neil Widener and Gavin James to pen the script for the live-action feature take on the iconic Mattel toy cars.

Mattel and Warner Bros announced they are partnering in a movie based on Hot Wheels, the toyline of small cars that run on those orange tracks in 2019. It's the second property Mattel has long tried to turn in a movie, and set new versions at Warner Bros. The other is Barbie. 

The hiring of the writers is the first major development for the title. It's been close to two decades that a Hot Wheels movie project has been in the development garage. Columbia had McG working on the engine for several years before Warners and producer Joel Silver got their hands it. 

Widener and James got the gig by winning a bake-off where the studio asked several scribes to come up with a treatment. Widener and James beat out several more established players, sources say.

Widener and James don't have any produced credits, but the scribes have generated heat working on a sequel to San Andreas and Now You See Me 3. They also have a retelling of Romeo and Juliet titled Verona set up at Columbia.