‘Toxic Avenger’ Movie in the Works at Legendary

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Legendary Entertainment is developing “The Toxic Avenger” as a movie after acquiring the feature film rights.

Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Troma Entertainment will serve as producers. Alex Garcia and Jay Ashenfelter will oversee for Legendary.

Kaufman and Herz produced the original 1984 comedy, set in the fictional town of Tromaville, N.J., and centered on a mild-mannered janitor at a health club who’s chased out a second story window by bullies and lands in a drum of toxic waste. The chemicals cause him to transform into , who has superhuman size and strength and stands up to bullies and corruption.

“The Toxic Avenger” became successful after a long run as a midnight movie in New York City, leading to the sequels “The Toxic Avenger Part II,” “The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie,” and “Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.” The property also became a stage musical production, a children’s cartoon TV series, and a Marvel comic.

Legendary’s upcoming titles include “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and the live-action “Detective Pikachu” — which will both be released in 2019 — and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which is in pre-production for a May 2020 release. Recent Legendary titles include “Skyscraper,” “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “Kong: Skull Island,” and “The Great Wall.”