The previously reported live-action Ben 10 film that has been in development for over a decade is now officially dead.
The news first dropped in 2011 from Variety that producer Joel Silver would be developing a live-action Ben 10 project for Warner Bros. Ever since the announcement, there's been no further word or movement on it.
For those unaware, the story follows ten-year-old Ben Tennyson, who comes across an alien device called the Omnitrix that allows him to transform into ten unique alien forms––while retaining his child personality.
The show was first created as an animated series on Cartoon Network in 2005 that went on for four seasons.
Live-Action Ben 10 Is Dead at Warner Bros.
While promoting his latest film, The Killer's Game, at its red carpet premiere, filmmaker Steve Richards revealed the status of his live-action Ben 10 movie.
When asked about the Warner Bros. project (which still sits on his IMDb page) and if it's still happening, Richards - who was an acting producer on the movie - revealed to The Direct's Russ Milheim that it is not happening and that the "rights... expired:"
"I have to admit, I should update my IMDb. No. So, when I was working with Joel Silver, we had the rights to that, and, yeah, that expired... But it should get made, right?"
For added context, Warner Bros. ended its 25-year relationship with Joel Silver in 2012 following a $30 million payout, which seemingly stalled Ben 10's development.
Technically, there have already been two live-action films made of Ben 10: Race Against Time (2007) and Alien Swarm (2009). Though, both were low-budget and direct-to-television films, with neither matching the intended theatrical scope of the scrapped Warner Bros. movie.
Could a Ben 10 Film Still Happen?
In theory, Warner Bros. still has the rights to Ben 10, so a new live-action film can still happen one day. However, as of this writing, there is no sign that the studio is focused on the IP.
But it is a fairly sizable project with a fun, high concept that could make for the perfect surprise big-budget blockbuster film.
When the scrapped film was first announced in the 2011 Variety report, Steve Richards himself expressed that they "really see this as a large, big-budgeted tentpole movie."
What is more likely, however, is a Ben 10 animated revival series.
While the original 2005 only went on for four seasons, it then continued on into three different animated shows over the years: Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse. In 2016, the series was rebooted, going for another four seasons, having wrapped up its run in 2020.
There were even three different animated movies: Secret of the Omnitrix (2007), Destroy All Aliens (2012), and Versus the Universe (2020).
Needless to say, the odds for another Ben 10 animated continuation seems very high.
Back in January of this year, Ben 10 co-creator Duncan Rouleau confirmed to ComicBook that he knows there is "a STRONG DESIRE" from both fans and those behind the scenes to bring the show back in some format. But he conceded to also saying that he couldn't confirm if any official talks were in progress.
As of writing, Ben 10 can be streamed on Netflix.
