Former Transformers franchise director Michael Bay almost derailed the G.I. Joe tease in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
What is Bay’s problem with Transformers meeting the Joes?
Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins spoke about the shocking ending with the Joes for the latest Transformers installment in an exclusive interview with Variety. It was Robbins’ call to bring together the two popular ’80s toy franchises together on the big screen, however, the crossover could not get the green light until toy company Hasbro along with executive producers Bay and Steven Spielberg gave the vote of confidence on it. Only Bay resisted the idea, fearing it would hurt the Transformers franchise. But Robbins never gave up.
“I called him 50 times,” Robbins said. “I would not let him off the hook. And when he finally stopped dodging my calls, we got him to sign off.”
Though Paramount had a temptation to bring the two franchises together since 2007’s Transformers and 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Bay played a major part in keeping the brands separate from one another. Instead of the Real American Heroes meeting the Robots in Disguise, the studio and Hasbro formed a writers’ room to create a Hasbro Cinematic Universe featuring the Joes, M.A.S.K., Micronauts, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, and Rom. The planned shared universe concept was ultimately abandoned in favor of producing the Henry Golding-led Snake Eyes movie in 2021.
Rise of the Beasts producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura teased what’s in store for the Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover in the next movie which has its development on hold due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike. “I don’t look at things like a universe, I look at them as a story and [the Joes] will be a part of the story,” Di Bonaventura said. “I also think the term ‘crossover’ means different things for different people. For me, the Joes, whoever they are, are entering the world of Transformers, not combining the two worlds. The plan is to eventually do [a crossover]. But, for the next movie, it’s the Joes that are coming in for whatever the ending of Rise of the Beasts has led us to believe is possible.”
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is available on all digital platforms.
