There’s serious doubt about the future of the Transformers franchise following the box office failure of the animated Transformers One.
The situation may also be impacted by the pending Skydance acquisition of Paramount, the studio behind all Transformers films.
On top of that, Hasbro has stated it’s stepping away from the movie business (though not entirely).
Transformers Future Called “Murky” After Animated Movie Flops
That same report about Amazon dumping the Henry Cavill Voltron movie to streaming also includes a tidbit about Transformers. It notes that Masters of the Universe is in development at Amazon as well, with Bumblebee director Travis Knight attached.
The Wrap article discusses how various ’80s IPs have fared at the box office, pointing to Transformers One as a bust (only brought in $129M on a budget reported to be closer to $150M). While there was significant buildup ahead of its release and talk of future films, the site now says the franchise’s future “remains murky.” Here’s the quote:
And last year’s “Transformers One,” the first fully animated feature in the franchise since 1986’s clunkily titled “The Transformers: The Movie,” made $129 million on a budget of more than $75 million. Again: Paramount’s plan for future movies, which it touted in the lead-up to the film’s release, remains murky.
Transformers/G.I. Joe Movie Talk Goes Silent
Part of that buildup included a rumor that Chris Hemsworth would star in a live-action Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover, reportedly in development. But there hasn’t been any official word on the project in quite some time.
It’s entirely possible the “announcement” was just a marketing move to generate hype around Hemsworth voicing Optimus Prime in Transformers One, which, as we now know, didn’t go over well.
Magic the future of Hasbro
Two months after the release of Transformers One, a report from Bloomberg revealed that Hasbro had decided to stop financing films based on its own IP. At the same time, the report noted Hasbro would be focusing more on its Magic: The Gathering brand.
In February, Hasbro and Legendary Entertainment announced plans to develop a live-action film and TV universe based on the Magic property.
No mention of Transformers.
Needs a serious tune-up
On a more hopeful note, Robert Kirkman—creator of The Walking Dead and Invincible—has been publishing new Transformers comics through Skybound, which appear to be doing well.
If the Skydance / Paramount merger goes through soon, maybe Kirkman will get a shot at bringing Transformers back to the big screen?
Following the Michael Bay movies and the soft releases of Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, Transformers needs a serious tune-up before it rolls out new projects.
