The idea of a crossover between two of Hasbro’s biggest toy brands-turned-film franchises,TransformersandG.I.
Joe, has always been so exciting.
Here’s what happened.
Custom Image by Nimesh Niyomal
A Real-Life War Turned ‘G.I.
Joe’ Into ‘Transformers’
According to producerDon Murphy,Transformerscame about while he was first developingG.I.
Joeinto a feature film.
Image via Paramount Pictures
As the story goes, he had been trying for quite some time to getG.I.
Joeoff the ground, and had finally gotten a studio on board.
“I had been in conversation with Hasbro to doG.I.
“Then we invaded Iraq and it became kind of clear that doing a movie calledG.I.
Joewas probably not the smartest idea at that point.”
Of course,G.I.
An ancient struggle between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons brings their war to Earth. Teenager Sam Witwicky, played by Shia LaBeouf, buys his first car, which turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee. As Sam and his friends join forces with the Autobots, they must prevent the Decepticons from obtaining the powerful AllSpark and destroying humanity.
Why did Megan Fox vanish from the Hasbro franchise?
It took two more years to developTransformersinto a project worthy of big-budget Hollywood financing.
But Don Murphy was only a small cog in the “Real American Hero” machine, as aG.I.
Joefeature film had been in the works before he got involved and remained in development hell for years afterward.
Eventually,Stephen Sommersdirected Joe’s first big-budget live-action debut, which was significantlypanned by critics and audiences alike.
It was clear that Murphy was right to dropG.I.
JoeforTransformers, especially since Joe continues to struggle with finding their way to the big screen.
‘Transformers’ Retained a Strong U.S. Military Presence
Interestingly though, despiteG.I.
Joebeing removed from theTransformerspicture, the Autobots' first live-action adventure featured a fairly significant U.S. Military presence anyhow.
Characters likeJosh Duhamel’s Captain William LennoxandTyrese Gibson’s Sgt.
The first week we shot on Air Force bases.”
But why make the military a part of a movie all aboutgood robot aliens fighting bad robot aliens?
Well, because Michael Bay thought it would help emphasize the tone he was aiming for.
For Bay, adding a military presence was paramount to the film’s success.
Hopefully,the upcomingTransformers/G.I.
Joecrossoverwill be able to embellish that a bit more.
Transformersis available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Watch on Paramount+
