Transformers: Age of Extinction cleaned up at the global box office this past weekend, so it shouldn't be long before we start to hear about Transformers 5 making forward progress. Before that film arrives, however, Paramount intends to release a different Hasbro property-based movie franchise installment, in the shape of G.I. Joe 3 - a film that already has a story idea in place, according to series producer Lorenzo di Bonaventure.

The third G.I. Joe live-action feature should have a new screenwriter in place soon, according to Bonaventura - who also recently confirmed that a search is underway, to find a replacement for director Jon M. Chu (who also helmed G.I. Joe: Retaliation). Bonanventura revealed to us that the fundamental concept behind Joe team's next adventure has already been settled on; whether or not it's the same story idea as that featured in the previous script draft penned by Evan Daugherty (Divergent, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)), is unknown at this time.

You can read our full interview with Bonaventura - which ventures into SPOILER territory for Age of Extinction and touches upon the potential release date for Transformers 5 - but below, we've included the passage pertinent to G.I. Joe 3:

"I have to say I’m really excited about what we’ve come up with on G.I. Joe 3. I think it’s one of the best ideas for a sequel I’ve ever run into, and I think the audience is going to be really, really happy with us."

Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock isn't confirmed yet, but he's expected to return in G.I. Joe 3; it's been teased in the past that certain "Joes" who perished (or, at the least, appeared to die...) in previous installments could also return in the third film, which raises all the more questions about what the storyline could be - one that has Bonaventura excited, at that. There's certainly plenty of mythology that can be drawn from; at this point, however, we suspect most G.I. Joe fans just want the third movie to have something that resembles a passable narrative - after the previous two lackluster chapters, that is.

Optimus Prime - Transformers Age of Extinction

As for the possibility of a cross-over between Hasbro's G.I. Joe and Transformers live-action movie franchises happening at some point, Bonaventura's comments on the matter resembled what he's said in the past, when asked about this idea:

"I’m sure the studios would love that idea. I don’t think either story has run out of its own momentum. I think when they start to run out of their own momentum is when some conversation like that could happen. It’s definitely not in the short term. None of us are talking about that."

Bonaventura has never firmly ruled out the idea of Autobots sharing the screen with flesh-and-blood G.I. Joes one day, though his noncommittal statements usually come off more as humoring the interviewer - as opposed to, leaving the door open for a strong possibility in the future.

Having said that, crossovers between the two intellectual properties has worked before in mediums other than cinema - and if either Bay or some other director wants to convince moviegoers to be as invested in the human players as the robots in a future Transformers movie, then allowing the former group to be populated by G.I. Joe team members could get the job done. It probably won't happen, but if Paramount wants to keep the G.I. Joe franchise alive and going for many years to come, the option is still on the table...

__________________________________________________

Transformers: Age of Extinction is now playing in theaters.

G.I. Joe 3 is expected to reach theaters in 2016.