Someone stop the madness already! This toy and board game licensing thing is already way beyond out of control. Yesterday we reported on Sony’s acquisition of the screen rights to the board game Risk, the latest in a long line of questionable movie deals involving branded playthings. The Wall Street Journal followed up with an article on the phenomenon today, addressing the “herd mentality” in Hollywood and the fact that somehow this is all a direct result of the success of Transformers. Go figure.

The article also goes on to reveal a handful of other interesting tidbits including:

• J.J. Abrams is in talks to produce a Micronauts movie
• Will Smith and producing partner James Lassiter are developing a Big Wheel TV series
• There might actually be an Etch A Sketch movie!

“The Ohio Art Co., which owns Etch A Sketch, says it has received numerous calls from producers interested in acquiring the rights to make a stand-alone film based on the toy. The company has yet to sign a deal.” Can you imagine being the owner of the Etch A Sketch, and one day out of the blue getting like 10 phone calls from Hollywood producers wanting to make a movie? I’m guessing they probably would have just hung up on the first few callers. I have no idea how it got to this point so quickly, but to the outside observer it is absolutely insane. The deals will probably continue until at least one of these movies bombs, causing all studio interest to evaporate. What do you think, is a recognizable brand really that valuable? Can an Etch A Sketch movie possibly give Michael Bay a run for his money?