Transformers’ big-screen future includes a G.I. Joe crossover, more animated movies, and more screentime for the Cybertronians

Transformers is one of those properties that will probably be around forever in one way or another. Right now, it’s enjoying a new surge in popularity thanks to solid TV efforts in recent years and live-action movies that actually feel like Saturday morning cartoons. Up next, we also have Transformers One, the franchise’s first animated movie made for theaters in decades, so of course, we’re hearing more about the Cybertronians’ big screen future.

Collider recently talked to veteran producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura about what’s next for Hasbro and Paramount Pictures’ big-screen efforts when it comes to one of their most reliable money-makers. The full interview packs a number of generous answers and is well worth a read, but we’ve picked the most interesting bits here, and I have some thoughts of my own.

After rumors started to heat up following Rise of the Beasts’ decent-enough financial performance (later boosted by strong home market numbers) in summer 2023, Paramount confirmed at CinemaCon 2024 that the next Transformers movie would be a crossover with G.I. Joe as teased at the end of the Anthony Ramos-led installment. Both diehard fans of Hasbro’s IPs and Paramount had been fantasizing about the idea for years, and the new, less self-serious Transformers timeline seemed like the perfect time to give that a go. There’s one major problem though: G.I. Joe, after two so-so movies, never took off on the big-screen in the same way as Transformers.

Paramount and Hasbro’s secret weapon? Doubling down on the Transformers as characters with agency and capable of carrying emotional weight on their shoulders without much human interference, then figuring out how many Joes are too many Joes: “Instead of them reacting to humans or reacting to the human plot, what is their drive, has to be part of that story now… The hardest thing about a lot of franchise movies is how many characters there are, and the more characters you try to manage, the harder it is to make a bunch of really good ones. You kind of got to keep going, keep it smaller, keep it smaller.” You’d think the rights holders and Paramount would’ve figured out long ago the franchise whose fans are still mourning cartoon robots deaths that happened in the ’80s needed to up the trust put on the Transformers, yet the box office of Michael Bay’s run supported the idea of going ‘America, f**k yeah’ first and Cybertronian second.

With 2018’s often-overlooked Bumblebee going both retro and more sincere, it felt like something had shifted, and even if Rise of the Beasts didn’t pack the most engaging script, that movie managed to up the stakes and scope without losing sight of the robots at the center of the story. Now, Paramount expects a similar degree of success with Transformers One, which is a Cybertron-set prequel with an all-star voice cast. While the first trailer was kind of head-scratching, the actual reviews and reactions to the movie have been notable, so the powers that be might have a winner in their hands. “Well, we’re going, again, subject to success, we’re going to do a sequel to this, and there will be an animated version, and it will exist completely separately to whatever we do live-action,” teased Di Bonaventura.

Transformers One opens wide tomorrow, September 20, so families and Transformers fanatics have something seemingly good to watch this weekend. Meanwhile, while we wait for the Transformers x G.I. Joe crossover flick to assemble, we’re also wondering about Transformers: Reactivate’s (Splash Damage’s next game) current status.