After G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra had a less than desired reception, Paramount took a new approach for the sequel. They swapped out Channing Tatum for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the lead and cut the budget by $45 million, resulting in a sequel that was ultimately a slightly better film than the first. Even though G.I. Joe: Retaliation was looking to have an even bigger response, that did has not stopped Paramount from continuing to explore an avenue for G.I. Joe 3.

They’ve tapped D.J. Caruso to direct the third installment and formed a writers room for the franchise after doing the same to craft the story for Transformers: The Last Knight. While the film appears to be on hold due to The Rock’s increasingly busy schedule, there was at one time a plan in place to have the Joes meet the Transformers.

Collider had the chance to interview Caruso in the lead up to xXx: The Return of Xander Cage’s release and asked him about his ideas for the potential third film. When he remarked that the franchise has not completely clicked just yet, the interviewer responded that a meeting with the Transformers could make that work. Well, it just so happens that is what Caruso had pitched at one point.

Well yeah but they’re not ready to do [G.I. Joe meets Transformers] yet. That’s exactly what they should do but they’re not ready to do that because in fact the script that I was developing, the two worlds sort of collided at the end and when they read it they were like, ‘We’re not ready to do this yet.’… They will eventually collide those two worlds and it’s probably when Mr. Bay decides he’s done with Transformers.

Seeing the Transformers and Joes crossover has been something fans of both properties have been hoping for since each were given a respective franchise. Even though both franchises have had some level of success, the possibility of them crossing over would no doubt be beneficial to all parties involved. With Michael Bay saying The Last Knight is (again) going to be his final directorial outing in the Transformers franchise, Caruso could potentially see his idea getting the green light in the near future.

For the time being, it does not appear that a Transformers/Joes meeting is the current plan. However, Caruso says it could be something that is revisited later on once Paramount is confident in the direction both franchises are taking. Once Johnson’s schedule clears up and Caruso and company figure out the new direction they want to go, production on the third film should pick up. For now, it does not appear that these two franchises will be crossing over soon, but his comments make it appear that it is something that could one day come to be.

Source: Collider

  • Transformers: The Last Knight Release Date: 2017-06-21