Late last year, Paramount and Hasbro, via their Allspark Pictures shingle, began moving ahead with plans to create a shared Hasbro Cinematic Universe. Even though there had been rumblings of a G.I. JOE/TRANSFORMERS crossover taking place at some point, the Robots in Disguise were nowhere to be found near this idea. Instead, G.I. JOE would be connecting with other Hasbro properties like M.A.S.K., Micronauts, Visionaries and ROM.
However, borrowing from Paramount and Hasbro's approach to expanding their TRANSFORMERS movie franchise, a writers room would be assembled, with several creative forces being brought together to brainstorm and pitch and hopefully hash out more than a few ideas that could help each of those aforementioned Hasbro entities get their own start but also cross paths with the rest to make something bigger.
You may have been wondering who would be brought into that writers room and ultimately have a hand in the creation of this Hasbro Cinematic Universe. Well, now we know… and there are some real heavyweights who will have inout in the process.
That is some line-up to try getting this concept off the ground. Seriously… As skeptical as one could be of this shared universe, looking at the creative minds being brought into that room, which will have its first meeting on Monday, should give you pause and the opening to believe that maybe this insanity could conceivably work. Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, said as much in his released statement.
Paramount and Hasbro have partnered on many successful films in the past, including the 'TRANSFORMERS' and 'G.I. JOE,' franchises. Bringing together a writers room of this caliber is a bold step for our partnership, and one that we believe is critical for building these brands into new, successful franchises for the future.
Paramount needs some big hits in their future and certainly could use a few bankable franchises to depend on, given their track record the past couple years. This may be the break they've been hoping for.