Paramount, the studio that’s produced successful movie franchises based on the Hasbro toy lines Transformers and G.I. Joe, is trying to make it a hat trick by acquiring the rights to Takaratomy’s Beyblade property, according to Deadline.  Takaratomy is also the creator of Transformers (like Beyblade, licensed to Hasbro in the U.S.).

The film will be produced by Mary Parent, known to fans of Japanese-style features from both Pacific Rim films and Godzilla.

Long-time readers of ICv2 were first alerted to the property, tied to a range of elaborate fighting tops, in early 2001, long before it came to the U.S. and became a huge international hit (see "Anime Ignites Tokyo Toy Craze").  The toy line eventually generated some $2.5 billion in sales worldwide.

Beyond the toys and the anime, VIZ published the manga here beginning in 2004 (see "VIZ Plans Major New Series"), and Decipher published a CCG in the early 00s.  The property was rebooted with Beyblade Metal Fusion, which hit the States in 2010 (see "New 'Beyblade' Anime Debuts this June).