Because I have a seven-year-old son, the words “Omnitirx,” “Swampfire,” “Chromastone” and “Humongousaur” mean something. If Joel Silver has his way, they’ll mean something to you, as well.

The Matrix producer will develop the extremely popular Cartoon Network series into a live-action tentpole series and, according to Variety, would like to distribute it through his longtime collaborating studio, Warner Bros.

Silver tells the trade that his sons “clued him in” to the story of a young, courageous hero who’s able to assume the role of 10 sci-fi creatures with the help of a powerful wristwatch device called the Omnitrix. He’s aided on his universe-hopping missions by Gwen Tennyson and Kevin Levin.

"I think we have to try something fresh and go at it in a way that stays true to the original material," Silver said. "I tried to do (something similar) with Speed Racer and failed miserably. You always learn more from the ones that don't work than the ones that do work."

I’m thrilled to hear Silver mention Speed Racer, because the minute I read this Ben 10 story, I immediately thought of the Racer bomb and prayed the inevitable Ben was closer to Matrix than the other Wachowski collaboration. There’s certainly plenty of potential to the franchise, as the original Ben series went on to spawn cartoon sequels in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. If Silver gets the franchise off on the right foot, the sky could be the limit.