Transformers: Rise of the Beasts producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently confirmed that the G.I. Joes will appear in the next Transformers film alongside the Maximals and the Autobots.
Di Bonaventura recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly, where he confirmed, “We’re introducing Joe characters into the world that we’re dealing with, on whatever our characters are gonna go do.”
He added, “We’re also not through with the Maximals, so I imagine in the next movie we’ll have Maximals, Autobots, and Joes.”
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts director Steven Caple Jr. also noted that he will be putting the G.I. Joes into the film’s sequel, “It is definitely gonna incorporate some Joes characters, but it won’t go into, maybe, the true origins of the Joes.”
As for what role the G.I. Joe’s might have, di Bonaventura relayed, “The idea of trying to do the whole Joe world at the same time is a little daunting. This is a way to bring them into our world, remind people of who they are, and they’ll have a role in the plot.”
The G.I. Joes were confirmed to be part of the Transformers franchise at the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts when Michael Kelly’s Agent Burke recruits Anthony Ramos’ Noah Diaz into the G.I. Joe organization.
https://youtu.be/kIEO_swu5Nc
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Discussing a potential sequel, Caple Jr. revealed it will “expand the entire universe.”
“There’s a big mission at hand,” he detailed. “I think it’s really cool that there are other planets out there with Transformers. It’s one of the reasons why I introduced the Maximals that way in the beginning of our film.”
The director then made clear that the sequel will explore other planets outside of Earth, “I was pulling from these Japanese cartoons where there’s Transformers on every other planet. I just feel like we’ve been on Earth for a very long time. So there might be something interesting to explore there, maybe taking this war and battle somewhere else.”
As for Michael Kelly’s Agent Burke, Caple Jr. notes that might not be his real name and he might actually be a more recognizable G.I. Joe character when his façade is lifted.
Caple Jr. shared, “as of right now, it’s Agent Burke. It’s a little generic, and it’s done on purpose a bit. It’s all part of the facade. He might grow into someone else. I’m still trying to figure out what to do exactly with that character.”
“I have some ideas, but the way I collaborate would be me doing research, me talking to Hasbro, and talking to Michael Kelly and seeing where we could take him,” he added.
While it sounds like both di Bonaventura and Caple Jr. are expecting a sequel, it might not be guaranteed. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has only grossed $80.6 million at the domestic box office and another $110 million at the international box office for a worldwide total of $190.6 million.
The film has a reported production budget of $195 million, which would mean the film would typically need $487.5 million with a 2.5x factor.
Box office financial analyst Valliant Renegade notes that the film by itself would have to bring in between $650 million and $700 million globally to break even after factoring what he believes would be another $125 million or so in marketing costs.
However, he notes that Transformers films are not solely reliant on the box office grosses for profitability given Transformers still is a toy line.
He explains, “The movies that they make and put into theaters with their partner Paramount that’s just one big advertisement that audiences actually pay for.”
Citing two articles from 2009 from Marketwatch and NBC News, Valliant Renegade noted that before the first Transformers film released, the franchise was generating around $30 million in sales annually around 2000. However, after the second Michael Bay film it began generating upwards of $600 million in toy sales.
“When the films launched in 2007, Transformers became a thing again. And not just a thing, but a huge thing. $30 million in total attributable revenue to Transformers in the Hasbro company in 2000 and seven years later when the first movie came out that went to almost $500 million and then when the second movie came out $600 million,” he noted.
Later in the video, Valliant Renegade asserts, “Basically having these streaming services and these licensees pay for the production costs of these shows and then they go out and become giant advertisements that somebody else has paid for to go out and buy your toys. Of course, those toys that’s where the real margin is. That’s where the real money is made. And that’s exactly the case with the Transformers movies.”
He would later hit this point again, “All of these hugely popular multi-generational toy lines needed advertising, and again, Hasbro figured out the most efficient way to do that is to make you the customer actually cover the costs of its advertisements to sell their toys. And it’s brilliant.”
In conclusion he notes even if this film loses money at the box office, Hasbro will continue to push more movies if they make up the costs in the toy sales.
Valliant Renegade explains, “Hasbro would be foolish to stop doing this at this point unless of course the toy sales went off the rails. But that’s why each new film introduces new characters because ‘Yeah, we might lose $50 or $60 million at the box office, but we sold another $200 million of a gorilla Transformer last year in Target.’
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However, there is another ripple to this. Of note, di Bonaventura told Entertainment Weekly that there does not seem to be any movement on a possible sequel to their Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins film that released back in 2021 starring Henry Golding.
That film only grossed $28.2 million at the domestic box office and another $6.4 million internationally for an abysmal global gross of $34.6 million. The movie had a reported production budget of $88 million.
On a possible sequel to Snake Eyes, di Bonaventura said, “We really haven’t had that much in-depth conversation, but I will say this: The first step we’ll do is pick the G.I. Joe characters that we’re most excited about, and then we’ll figure out the journey.”
What do you make of Caple Jr.’s plans for the G.I. Joes and Transformers moving forward?