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Hasbro’s Shared Cinematic Universe Is In VERY Good Hands

By bill - April 22, 2016
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GI-Joe-featHasbro and Paramount reveal the writers roster behind their upcoming interconnected movie universe, and things are looking good!

News surfaced a short time ago that Hasbro and Paramount were launching a slate of film projects based in a new shared universe between Hasbro’s properties including G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., Visionaries, Micronauts, and ROM.  In and of itself, that news left me cautiously optimistic… Many of these brands are near and dear to my heart, and the idea of seeing ROM or Miles Mayhem on the big screen is– quite honestly– mind bogglingly cool.  BUT, with that news came the grim reminder that the last few times Hasbro and Paramount joined forces for a toy-based film project, the results have been non-starters like Battleship and GI Joe Retaliation, or worse– roided-out, aggro garbage like Michael Bay’s Transformers series.

But now the writer’s room behind Hasbro’s shared universe has been announced, and my caution is melting away because not only does this team promise something different than what we’ve seen in the past from Hasbro and Paramount, but there’s some truly amazing talent aboard for this new project.  The lineup includes the great Michael Chabon– whose Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay remains one of the best novels I’ve ever read, Nicole Perlman– who co-wrote Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, Cheo Coker– the showrunner for the upcoming Luke Cage Netflix series, and Brian K Vaughan– a name any comic book reader should recognize immediately.

The writing team will be working under Akiva Goldsman, and while he’s had his share of epic-scale misfires (the Dreamcatcher movie comes to mind… ugh), his best work tends to be as a producer rather than a creator.  It sounds like his contribution to the Hasbro universe will be more in the latter column, which should play to his strengths.

It’s been a rough last few years for G.I. Joe fans, but all along Hasbro has been promising us big things on the horizon, and it looks like this shared universe will be a major part of that.  I’m thrilled to have so many great creators behind these beloved franchises, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.  Now we’re left to wonder what this cinematic universe will look like, and how we’ll be introduced to it… will Paramount take a cue from Marvel’s success and roll out the properties individually before building to something more connected?  Or will they follow DC’s top-down approach?  And how will the rumored HasCon– which will allegedly replace Fun Publication’s long running GI Joe Con and Bot Con– play into this new movie universe?

Share your predictions for the future of Hasbro’s shared movie universe in the comments.. what property do you think should introduce this world?  And which creators should tackle which brands?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

You can read the full press release from Hasbro and Paramount below.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND HASBRO TAP AWARD-WINNING GROUP OF WRITERS TO CREATE
CROSS-PROPERTY FILM UNIVERSE

WRITERS ROOM LEAD BY OSCAR WINNER AKIVA GOLDSMAN WILL DEVELOP STORIES FOR HASBRO
BRANDS G.I. JOE, MICRONAUTS, VISIONARIES, M.A.S.K. AND ROM

HOLLYWOOD, CA (April 21, 2016) – Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, Inc. today unveiled
its top talent writers room which will have responsibility for developing Hasbro’s
cross-property interconnected onscreen universe featuring the brands G.I. Joe,
Micronauts, Visionaries, M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) and ROM. This
group includes some of the most notable creative talent in Hollywood, including
Academy Award Winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind), who will have responsibility
for overseeing the writers room on behalf of Hasbro and Paramount as well as serving
as Executive Producer for all of the films. Joining Goldsman will be Lindsey Beer
(Wizard of Oz, Kingkiller Chronicle), Pulitzer Prize Winner Michael Chabon (The
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), Cheo Coker (Luke Cage, Ray Donovan), Joe
Robert Cole (Black Panther, People vs. OJ), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy,
Captain Marvel), Jeff Pinkner (Lost, The Dark Tower), Nicole Riegel (Soldier Girls),
Geneva Robertson (Atlantis, Tomb Raider) and Brian K Vaughan (Under the Dome, Lost).

Allspark Pictures, Hasbro’s film label, plans to produce films based on this
cross-property universe, with Brian Goldner (Chairman, President and CEO, Hasbro)
and Stephen Davis (Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, Hasbro)
serving as Producers, and Josh Feldman (Co-Head of Storytelling, Hasbro) as
Co-Executive Producer. Hasbro will also deploy in the room an unprecedented team of
its top artists and designers to assist Goldsman and the writers to visualize this
all-new cinematic universe.

“Paramount and Hasbro have partnered on many successful films in the past, including
the ‘TRANSFORMERS’ and ‘G.I. JOE,’ franchises,” said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of
Paramount Pictures. “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.”

“Together with Paramount, we have assembled a team of incredibly talented creative
minds and storytellers to continue to help tell the rich history and narrative
behind this interconnected cinematic universe, and we are thrilled to be working
with Akiva Goldsman again to guide this process,” said Brian Goldner. “We are also
excited to partner with Paramount to produce the films, as we’ve had a strong and
collaborative partnership since our first Transformers movie in 2007.”

The Paramount and Hasbro partnership is responsible for the worldwide blockbuster
success of the “TRANSFORMERS” franchise, which has earned $3.8 billion to-date, and
whose films, directed by Michael Bay, are amongst the highest grossing movies of all
time; and the “G.I. JOE” franchise, which have earned more than $675 million
worldwide.

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