Will Hasbro’s Transformers Meet the Walking Dead?

Hasbro’s looking to slice into the cinematic universe pie and is willing to break the bank to make quality happen. Gossip says Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman /4/just hit the writers’ room after all.

Hasbro and Paramount are planning a cinematic universe based off Michael Bay’s series and they’re not playing around.

The Hollywood Reporter posted the new cinematic universe runners have been talking to Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Art Marcum and Matt (Iron Man), Zak Penn (Pacific Rim 2), and Jeff Pinker (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as writers for movies. Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend) joined up in March to plan and develop the future universe.

Bay will still team up with Steven Spielberg and Lorenzo di Bonaventura to produce the next series of movies. Last year’s Transformers: Age of Extinction internationally grossed $1.1 billion. When you add in the previous three movies, that’s almost $4 billion in sales. Creating sequels was a no-brainer.

Quality is another story entirely.

Superhero Hype noted that Mark Wahlberg will definitely be returning in the next segments. “Yeah, I committed to doing a couple more. I can’t speak for Mr. Bay, but something tells me we’ll be on set soon.”

It was reported in April that the next movie /4/be appearing on the big screen in 2017, so time is running out on finding the best writer. And with the latest news that IDW and Hasbro are creating an all-female team that will eventually have a toy-line so the product placement and integration is easily accessed.

“We think there’s any number of stories to be told. It’s a brand that’s been around for 30 years with amazing cannon and mythology. We would expect the sequel to the Transformers movie to happen in 2017,” said President and CEO of Hasbro Brian Goldner.

But it’s not just about the latest set of actors, either. Robots in disguises means plenty of heroes and villains to put on screen, from Generation 1 to the current Rescue Bots and Cartoon Network series.

Overmental’s Briley Kenney points out that the writers’ room will be filled with solid talent and the ability to create blockbusters. So will characters like Windblade show up? Who knows. But a diverse talent pool means the latest additions /4/see a use for more than just Optimus Prime as a leader, a la the various cartoon properties.

Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Superhero Hype, TFW2005