Hasbro and Paramount will expand their movies-based-on-toys output, with a new announcement confirming their commitment to new collaborative projects. So far, the relationship between Paramount and Hasbro has produced five Transformers films and two G.I. Joe movies. (Hasbro also made the Rihanna-starring Battleship movie from 2012, but Paramount wasn't involved with producing that one.)
It was already clear that Paramount and Hasbro wanted to make a lot more movies, as evidenced by the upcoming Bumblebee movie and the announcement of a new film branch within Hasbro: Allspark Pictures. Also, the powers-that-be at Paramount and Hasbro have assembled two writers rooms in recent memory: one to crack the stories of manifold Transformers movies and another to build a Hasbro cinematic universe around G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries, ROM The Spaceknight and M.A.S.K.
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This formal announcement confirms that official deals have been inked between Hasbro and Paramount, allowing the companies to get going with its hefty slate of new projects. Deadline broke the news, sharing a statement from Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, which spells out the barest basics of the deal:
“Paramount has been a valuable partner of Hasbro’s for more than a decade, and we’re looking forward to taking our relationship to the next level. Storytelling, in its many forms, is revolutionizing our business and differentiating Hasbro in all sectors where we operate. We look forward to collaborating with the talented team at Paramount to create powerful new stories for kids, fans and families globally.”
Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos also chimed in, praising Hasbro’s “enormous array of exceptional brands” and describing the expansion of the two companies' relationship as “incredibly exciting.” Both parties seem to be very pleased and it’s easy to see why: this new deal spans film, television, live-action and animation, which could well open up a lot of new revenue streams for everyone involved.
However, it is somewhat frustrating, as a viewer, that this announcement didn’t come with the unveiling of a massively cool new project. It’s clear that these businessmen want to make more content and therefore more money, but this was an opportunity to get the fans excited. They could have confirmed a few upcoming films and TV shows, but instead, they just announced the corporate partnership and left it at that.
It’s hard to tell if audience appetite for toy-based movies remains strong, or if public interest in the idea is beginning to wane. Transformers: The Last Knight made $605 million worldwide, which sounds like a lot, but is actually less than every other Transformers movie except for the first one. But whether film fans want them to or not, Paramount and Hasbro are clearly set on converting many more playthings into moving pictures both big and small.
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Source: Deadline
