Paramount and Hasbro are developing a new G.I. Joe live-action movie spinoff. The G.I. Joe multimedia brand is one of Hasbro's most popular and longest-running IPs, having already been adapted for everything from comic books to multiple animated TV series, and even a pair of live-action movies (released in 2009 and 2013). And while neither of the feature films were well-received critically, they earned enough at the global box office ($678 million combined) to keep Paramount and Hasbro coming back for more. 706k40

Paramount hyped its 2020 film slate with a sizzle reel at CinemaCon. Also known as the Official Convention for The National Association of Theatre Owners, CinemaCon is an annual event where studios tease their biggest movies to a variety of industry professionals and of the press. Studios typically unveil brand-new footage (including, in many cases, first-look clips) as part of their presentations, in combination with guest appearances by the directors, cast, and producers involved with their latest productions.

Hasbro is making big strides to advance their very own film company division by hiring veteran film producer Greg Mooradian to oversee the young venture. The prominent toy company will take advantage of its many well-established brands - Mr. Potato Head, Monopoly, and My Little Pony - as it makes this significant industry crossover.

There’s nothing like a shared universe idea to get audiences excited about the potential of films that haven’t been made yet. One of the more intriguing of these recent rumors is the possibility of a crossover film between G.I. Joe and Transformers, courtesy of comments made by director D.J. Caruso during the press tour for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. In his comments, he mentioned that the script he was writing for G.I. Joe 3 included a moment at the end where the worlds of the Transformers and G.I. Joe collided, but because of where both film franchises were, it didn’t make a ton of sense.

A quick look at box office reports from the past few years shows there's a few tried and true tickets for achieving box office success: shared universes, crossovers, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The ex-World Wrestling Federation star’s stock has been on the rise, and now it seems like everyone wants a piece of the action; although, not everything he touches turns to gold. One franchise he’s already involved in that hasn't seen its potential is G.I. Joe. While the first two films in the franchise have been far from a bust, The Rock has seen even success with most of the films that he’s done since 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

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.

It has been over three years since G.I. Joe: Retaliation was released in theaters. That film, which had a reported $135 million budget, ended up being relatively successful after hauling in a little over $370 million at the worldwide box office. That total makes Retaliation the most successful Hasbro adaptation not featuring the Transformers. While Retaliation brought back Channing Tatum (as Duke), Ray Park (as Snake Eyes), and Byung-hun Lee (as Storm Shadow) from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the sequel ultimately focused on new characters. Bruce Willis, Adrianne Palicky, and Ray Stevenson ed the cast, but the most prominent addition was that of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Roadblock.

Ever since Marvel Studios saw unprecedented success with its shared universe in The Avengers, other studios in the film industry have been working to build a similar structure into their own franchises - either with superheroes or other viable properties. Twentieth Century Fox is extending its X-Men universe to include standalone films like Deadpool and Gambit; Warner Bros. and DC Comics are officially launching their Justice League universe next year; Universal has plans for a shared universe of classic movie monsters. Meanwhile, Disney has also resurrected Star Wars for another set of installments as well as spinoffs.

G.I. Joe is one live-action movie franchise that has yet to deliver an installment where the majority opinion is a positive one (among either critics or even a major subset of the fanbase). It's for that reason that most people invested in this series appear to be fine with the news that G.I. Joe 3 won't carry over any writing/directing talents from previous Joe adventures.