Paramount cancels the planned “Transformers”–”G.I. Joe” crossover: the project prepared for three years will not happen

Paramount Pictures has officially cancelled plans for a crossover film between “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe,” as Deadline reports. The project, which would have brought together on screen two of Hasbro’s biggest franchises, is no longer in development — more than three years after it was first announced.

The idea was born from the ending of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” (2023), in which Anthony Ramos, as Noah Diaz, is interviewed first for a seemingly ordinary government job and then introduced to the G.I. Joe organisation. Paramount made the crossover official at CinemaCon in April 2024 and hired Derek Connolly (“Jurassic World,” “Kong: Skull Island”) to write the script; Chris Hemsworth was also reported to be in talks for a role. But the project never went into production.

Instead of the meeting between robots and commandos, Paramount will move forward with a standalone “G.I. Joe” reboot, with Bradley Cooper playing Conrad “Duke” Hauser, as Deadline reported. The film will be directed by Danny McBride, who co-wrote the script with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, and is described as a “re-imagining” of the franchise, completely separate from Transformers. Channing Tatum played Duke in the two previous films, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (2009) and “Retaliation” (2013), while “Snake Eyes” (2021) with Henry Golding failed as a new starting point.

The future of live-action “Transformers” remains open: the studio confirmed at this year’s CinemaCon that a new film is in development, with a script by Jason Fuchs (“Wonder Woman”). It is not yet known whether it will continue the story of “Rise of the Beasts” — no director, cast or date has been announced. For now, the two Hasbro properties will follow separate paths in cinemas, closing a crossover that had been in preparation since 2023.