Director Jon Chu seems to have a special relationship with the Hasbro brand. In 2013 he helmed the big screen sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation - based on the toy company’s famous line of action figures – and this weekend we will see the filmmaker’s live-action adaptation of the Hasbro-produced Jem and the Holograms. This means that Chu currently stands as the only director to helm movies for two different Hasbro properties – but he doesn’t want to stop there. Apparently he would very much be game for a giant G.I. Joe/Jem and the Holograms/Transformers crossover film.
I had the opportunity to interview Jon Chu over the phone earlier this week – the filmmaker currently on the press tour for Jem and the Holograms - and it was at the end of our conversation that he revealed his thoughts about what would essentially be The Avengers of Hasbro movies. Having taken the helm of two of the company’s projects so far, I asked Chu if he had thought about completing the trifecta by taking on one of the upcoming Transformers features. His answer, which came sandwiched by a good bit of laughter, revealed that he is thinking much bigger than just a simple robots vs. robots movie. Said the director,
I mean, I’m a huge Transformers fan, I would totally be down for that, but I really want to build my universe with Jem – but you could have Jem, G.I. Joe and Transformers collide - one epic blockbuster!
Given the presence of militaristic forces in both franchises, G.I. Joe and Transformers do very much seem like perfect candidates for some kind of big blockbuster, but throwing Jem into the mix makes things get very interesting. The way I see it, maybe Optimus Prime and Dwayne Johnson’s Roadblock need the hologram powers of Jem’s robot, SYNERGY, which will give them the edge they need in their battle against the Decepticons and the forces of Cobra.
Don’t start getting too excited about this idea, though, because while it was Jon Chu’s pitch, right now the director is happy to keep things going on a smaller scale and trying just to expand the universe that he’s created with his latest film. Said Chu,
Of course, any chance to direct a really fun movie like Transformers would be great, but right now just focused on the world that we’re creating now.
Jem and the Holograms arrives in theaters this Friday, while Transformers 5 and G.I. Joe 3 remain in development and without official release dates at this time. Can you envision them all coming together someday in the same movie? Hit the comments below with your thoughts.
