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Hasbro, the company behind Transformers, G.I.
Joe, and tons of beloved board games, clearly enjoys success in the toybox.
The box office, though?
Thats a different story.
We will, however, be talking about a jillionTransformersmovies.
1980s Hasbro had figured out the cartoon-storytelling landscape but was far from having the The Touch.
Take Hasbros other toy turned cartoon adaptation of 1986,My Little Pony: The Movie.
This deal also came with a movie that was already in production and due out the following year.
The director, Courtney Solomon, had acquired the film rights to the game when he was 19.
Some fans were not happy with these modifications take the scrutiny of the orange flames on Optimus Primes truck.
You also need, well, writers, and you need time to let them work.
When I look back at it, that was crap.
The writers strike was coming hard and fast.
It was just terrible to do a movie where youve got to have a story in three weeks.
Joe: Rise of Cobra(2009)
G.I.
Joe: Rise of Cobra.
A key force behind the scenes was consultant Larry Hama, who wrote theG.I.
Joecomics that were a bigger inspiration for the movie than the comparatively better-known cartoon series.
Many of Hasbros efforts would be focused on masters of war, butG.I.
Joe: Rise of Cobrais at least fast-paced, colorful, and openly ridiculous.
But the first project was a major box-office disaster that markedthe beginning of that deals end.
(This is a whole lot likeBattleship, says no one).
Consumers can tell a knockoff when they see one.
By the time Bruce Willis appears in the film as the original G.I.
Joe with a Waco-ready arsenal of guns in his kitchen, its just sad.
Nonetheless,Retaliationwas enough of a box-office success, but it still couldnt create the momentum for aTransformers-fast follow-up.
Overall, Bays slight reboot of theTransformersformula made for the highest-grossing movie of 2014.
Sure, the film aint so good.
Look at all that money.
Thats what the toy business calls good marketing.
Does the movie have cigarette burns on the top right of the screen as a film reel would?
Does it include a family being torn apart by supernatural forces thanks to the game?
And fans loved it, as it earned $61.3 million worldwide.
), Taye Diggs (Theyre infected with pastelus coloritus!)
and the likes of an improvising Michael Pena, Uzo Aduba, and Liev Schreiber.
Far removed from the self-serious combat ofTransformersandG.I.
Joe Origins: Snake Eyes(2021)
After the modest success ofG.I.
Joe: Retaliation,Hasbro tried for years to crack other cinematic storylines for G.I.
Joe characters and enlisted the help of a writers room.
Joemovies,Snake Eyeswas a box-office failure that lost Paramount millions.
But the movie saves its giddiest moment for last: a mic-drop twist that G.I.
Joe wants to recruit Ramoss character.
We can at least be certain Hasbro wont kill off Optimus mid-movie this time.
