Without a doubt... a 'Magic 8-Ball' movie is on the way

The Magic 8-Ball has been telling fortunes since the 1950s, but few might have predicted that it would one day get its own movie.

Indie studio Blumhouse is developing the project with Mattel Films, with the sooth-saying toy at the centre of proceedings.

Jeff Wadlow is signed on to direct the movie, writer and director of Kick-Ass 2 and the forthcoming horror take on classic TV show Fantasy Island, also a Blumhouse production.

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As such, it sounds like this will be the angle for the 8-Ball movie, with Blumhouse having made a name for itself with low-budget horrors that have slain the box office.

It's been behind the Paranormal Activity movies, the Insidious movies, and The Purge movies, as well as critical hits like Jordan Peele's breakthrough Get Out and Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman.

The Magic 8-Ball features a 20-sided dice floating inside an oversized plastic pool ball, and when shaken, gives up phrases such as 'It is certain', ‘Without a doubt’, 'Ask again later' or 'Don't count on it'.

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Robbie Brenner, head of Mattel Films, said: “There are no partners better suited to tell the Magic 8 Ball story in collaboration with Mattel Films than Jeff Wadlow and Blumhouse Productions, whose unique approach to the thriller genre has captivated audiences worldwide and has gained widespread accolades.”

But if it all feels like a bit of a leap from the toy shop to the multiplex, the 8-Ball's origin actually does lie in the movies.

A fortune telling pool ball first appeared in the Three Stooges short You Nazty Spy! from 1940, a satire on the growth of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich.

Meanwhile, Mattel is bolstering its presence at the cinema, with planned movies based on Masters of the Universe, Hot Wheels and Barbie all on the way.