The ride to Hasbro’s cinematic universe is at full steam ahead after G.I. Joe was teased in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. However, those keen to see this potential toy crossover may have to wait a bit, considering the targeted release date that has been revealed.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts‘ Lorenzo di Bonaventura revealed when G.I. Joe will make its big screen debut. In an interview with Sci-fi & Fantasy Gazette, he said that this Hasbro crossover could happen sometime in 2026. It was originally scheduled to come out in 2025, but writing was delayed due to the ongoing WGA strikes.
“It’s a good question. We were about to start a script when the writers’ strike happened. So, our hope was we were going to have it for 2025, but I think the longer the strike goes on, the more it puts it in 2026.”
G.I. Joe was teased during the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts when Noah was offered a position to join this secret military organization. But despite these plans to bring the franchise back, it’s currently unknown if any familiar names in G.I. Joe will appear since he didn’t “plan that far ahead” for this upcoming crossover.
Bonaventura has worked on G.I Joe films in the past. Specifically, the adaptations from 2009 through 2021. Unfortunately, all three films were received quite poorly by critics on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. He also had plans to develop a pilot for a potential G.I. Joe series on Amazon, which never came to be. Perhaps, then, it was a good idea to push the release date back, considering that previous film adaptations for the franchise flopped, so that more time and care can be put into this crossover and get people excited.
However, the same could be said for the Transformers movies, since the franchise received mixed reviews amongst audiences and critics. So combining the two franchises together into one movie could be a massive gamble on Hasbro’s part. Only time will tell if the crossover will sit well with fans, whether G.I Joe can break free from this box office bomb curse.
