Robert Kirkman, Zak Penn, and more added to Transformers “writer’s room”

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The TRANSFORMERS films are serious money-makers so it came as no surprise when Hasbro and Paramount announced their plan for a combined TRANSFORMERS cinematic universe full of sequels, spin-offs, and laminated statutory rape excuses. Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, and Lorenzo di Bonaventura then chose Akiva Goldsman to head up a "writer's room" in order to develop ideas for the next stage of the Transformers universe.

As Goldsman couldn't possibly come up with fifty variations of giant robots pummeling each other by himself, Deadline has reported that Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Zak Penn (PACIFIC RIM 2), Jeff Pinkner (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2), and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (IRON MAN) are in negotiations to join him. It's interesting to note that Ehren Kruger, who is credited on three out of the four previous films, is absent from this new group of writers.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner has previously commented on the upcoming cinematic universe:

Our plan with the studio and filmmakers you may have heard some writers being hired and we have in fact brought in Akiva Goldsman to lead a group of writers to really create a strategic plan around Transformers. We think there are any number of stories to be told from the brand that has been around for 30 years with amazing canon and mythology. We would expect the sequel to the Transformers movie [TF4] to happen in 2017.

The four TRANSFORMERS films have pulled in close to $4 billion worldwide despite an almost unanimous critical lashing, proving that so long as we've got pretty ladies and explosions we're seemingly happy to plunk down our hard-earned change. The fifth film in the TRANSFORMERS franchise, and the first from this new writer's room, is set for release sometime in 2017.

What do you think folks? Do these writers give you hope for the future of the TRANSFORMERS franchise?