On January 30, 2003, Columbia Pictures announced they had gained exclusive rights to developing a feature film based on the toy line "Hot Wheels" with McG attached to direct. Although unwritten, the premise involved a young man "trying to reconcile with his father. It's a kid who steals his dad's racecar and ends up going through a sort of "Back to the Future" portal into this world, and he has to reconcile his relationship with his father." In 2006, McG said that he dropped out as director and chose to produce instead.