paramount, hasbro creating movie universe around g.i. Joe, four other brands (exclusive)
by gregg kilday 12/15/2015 7:00am pst

under a new deal between the studio and hasbro's allspark pictures, g.i. Joe will join up with characters from the micronauts, visionairies, m.a.s.k. And rom brands.

paramount pictures and hasbro are embarking on a new universe of interrelated characters and stories. The studio — which is already in the process of expanding its transformers universe after four movies based on that popular hasbro toy line — is announcing a new deal with hasbro on tuesday that will see paramount and allspark pictures, hasbro’s film label, build an interconnected, cross-property onscreen universe, featuring characters from five of hasbro’s other brands: G.i. Joe, micronauts, visionairies, m.a.s.k. (mobile armored strike kommand) and rom.

Allspark pictures will produce the films, and brian goldner, hasbro chairman, president and ceo, hasbro exec vp and chief content officer stephen davis, hasbro head of film development josh feldman are working with paramount to shape the new universe from the five properties. Just as has been done with transformers, where akiva goldsman led a writers’ room to develop further installments in that franchise, hasbro and paramount plan to assemble a writers’ room, comprised of top talent, to develop a creative roadmap.

the transformers franchise has grossed more than $3.8 billion to-date, and the two g.i. Joe movies paramount has released, in 2009 and 2013, have grossed more than $675 million worldwide.

"paramount and hasbro have had a longstanding relationship and we're proud of the success we've enjoyed on the transformers and g.i. Joe franchises,” brad grey, paramount chairman and ceo, said in announcing the deal. "we're excited to grow our agreement and make even more movies based upon these popular and powerful hasbro characters and their worlds."

“hasbro and allspark pictures put storytelling at the center of everything that we do. These brands are filled with memorable stories and vivid characters, and this universe creates a framework for how they will become interconnected,” goldner added. “extending our partnership with paramount allows us to continue our long-term strategy and overall vision to build dynamic worlds for all of our brands, and we are thrilled to collaborate with them as we develop these properties.”

wme’s rob carlson represented hasbro in the deal.

DECEMBER 15, 2015 12:59pm PT by Graeme McMillan
Hasbro's New Cinematic Universe Plans: A Brief Guide

Micronauts, Visionaries and Space Knights abound as Hasbro and Paramount plan to turn toys into box office gold.

The news that Hasbro is building a second cinematic universe alongside its Transformers is something sure to excite fans of 1980s towlines and comic books, while making almost everyone else somewhat confused. Visionaries? Micronauts? Rom? What are these strange new properties, and how will they all fit together? Here's a quick guide to get everyone up to speed.

G.I. Joe
The Concept: America's top counter-terrorism unit, drawing in specialists from all branches of U.S. military and intelligence forces to, more often than not, deal with a terrorist organization called COBRA.

The Legacy: Originally the brand name for a series of figures of generic U.S. armed forces soldiers, the franchise was relaunched to great success in 1982 with the current counter-terrorism organization concept. Successful enough at its height to support a line of comic books and a Saturday morning cartoon series in addition to the core toyline. The line has been in almost constant production since the 1982 relaunch, and in recent years has been pushed more heavily as a result of the 2009 and 2013 live-action movies.

The Current Awareness: Thanks to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), it could be argued that the Joes are currently at their most recognizable since their 1980s peak.

How Does It Fit Into A Shared Universe? To date, the Joes have co-starred with Hasbro's big guns, the Transformers, on a number of occasions across animated series and comic books, and shares an unusual toyetic link with M.A.S.K. (Just wait.)

Visionaries
The Concept: Subtitled "Knights of the Magical Light," Visionaries is an umbrella term for the heroes and villains of the alien planet Prysmos, where science has failed and been replaced by magic. Each side's warriors have animal avatars which represent their personalities, with each warrior able to shape change into their own animalistic totem.

The Legacy: A failed toyline from 1987, the selling point of the Visionaries was the hologram stickers each figure wore on their chest, showing the character's animal totem. As was the norm at the time, the toy line's launch was heralded by a comic book and Saturday morning cartoon, both of which were swiftly cancelled in less than a year.

The Current Awareness: Arguably the lowest of any of the properties included in the new cinematic universe, with the Visionaries likely only remembered by those who owned one of the figures back in the day.

How Does It Fit Into A Shared Universe? Given that each of the different properties included relies on technology to some extent, having a group of aliens from a world where science has fallen from favor feels somewhat counter-intuitive.

M.A.S.K.
The Concept: A G.I. Joe-like counter-terrorist organization — M.A.S.K. stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand — fighting the forces of V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem; subtlety was not on the agenda during the brainstorming sessions to name these toys, apparently). In a twist, both M.A.S.K. and V.E.N.O.M. had transforming vehicles and masks which gave them all super powers.

The Legacy: Originally created by Hasbro competitor Kenner in 1985, M.A.S.K. lasted four years on toy shelves, with a concurrent Saturday morning cartoon series lasting two years on air. (There were also two series of comic books, totaling 13 issues and two annuals across a two year span.) In recent years, a figure of Matt Trakker, M.A.S.K. head honcho, was added to the G.I. Joe line in 2008, and Hasbro teased a relaunch of the line in a summer 2015 presentation to shareholders.

The Current Awareness: File under "fondly, if distantly, remembered," despite the derivativeness of the central idea. With Kenner's parent company bought by Hasbro in 1991, there apparently wasn't much need of a G.I. Joe/Transformers hybrid until recently, but we'll see if audiences feel differently.

How Does It Fit Into A Shared Universe? Technically, M.A.S.K. is already part of G.I. Joe canon…

Micronauts
The Concept: Alien warriors from an alternate dimension that's literally microscopic. Imagine Ant-Man meets Star Wars.

The Legacy: Licensed from Japanese manufacturer Takara in the mid-1970s, Micronauts was a Mego Toys line of miniature robots and vehicles that ran from 1976 through 1980. However, the larger legacy of the franchise comes from comic books, with Marvel's original Micronauts comics running until 1986, with subsequent revivals from Image Comics and Devil's Due Publishing in 2002 and 2004.

The Current Awareness: Thanks to complicated rights issues, Marvel's Micronauts comics — which featured a core cast split between Mego property and original Marvel characters — have become something of a holy grail for a subset of collectors, having never been collected. While the property's profile remains low outside of a certain demographic, inside that demographic, there are few more beloved titles. A new comic book revival was announced by current Transformers and G.I. Joe publisher IDW Publishing at this year's San Diego Comic-Con.

How Does It Fit Into A Shared Universe? Part of the original comic book series' appeal was watching the miniature heroes visit the "regular" world and fight oversized foes. That is something that could easily translate into a new shared existence with, for example, G.I. Joe.

Rom: The Space Knight
The Concept: A cyborg warrior from outer space, arrived on Earth to fight threats that humanity (literally) can't see.

The Legacy: Parker Brothers' first foray into action figures was ill-fated, to say the least; the toy, which featured electronic eyes and little ability to move, was a flop when released in 1979. The same wasn't true of the character's Marvel comic book, which — like Micronauts — far outstripped its inspiration in terms of longevity, running until 1986. The mythology Marvel created around the character continues to this day, with other Spaceknights appearing in the publisher's recent Avengers storylines.

The Current Awareness: Like Micronauts, the Marvel Rom comics are much-desired by comic book fans, and similarly un-reprinted due to the rights for the material being shared between Marvel and Hasbro, which has owned Parker Brothers since 1991. Arguably, it's this complicated rights issue that is what Rom is most famous for to most people today. A new comic book revival was announced by current Transformers and G.I. Joe publisher IDW Publishing at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, and the character will star in IDW's 2016 Free Comic Book Day issue.

How Does It Fit Into A Shared Universe? Rom's entire gimmick is that he's an unknowable alien who drops out of the skies and starts causing trouble; although he's not shared a story with any of the other properties in the new cinematic universe yet, he's perfectly primed to cause trouble as soon as he appears.