Transformers One Director Working on New Live-Action Transformers Movie (& 4 More Are in the Works)

The Transformers movie franchise is showing no signs of slowing down – in fact, the latest rumors from industry insiders suggest that Transformers is actually hitting the gas by getting multiple projects into development. The biggest headline (so far) has been news that Michael Bay, director of the first five Transformers live-action films, is returning to the franchise after a lengthy (and seemingly permanent) hiatus. However, there is also a rumor that Josh Cooley, the director of the recent animated feature Transformers One, will be sticking with the franchise – just not in the way we would’ve expected.

According to a new report, Cooley has been tapped by Paramount to develop a live-action Transformers movie project, one that will be separate from the project that Michael Bay is working on. In fact, by Puck News‘ count, there are currently five different Transformers projects in development, with Bay and Cooley’s films being two of the five.

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Transformers One turned out to be an unexpected flop for Paramount and the Transformers franchise. The animated feature still required a budget that’s been estimated to have reached as high as $145 million (or more) to make and market; it ultimately earned $129.4M at the box office, and even when released on streaming, it failed to spark renewed demand for Transformers from the younger demographic, which seems to have put the ball back in the court of making live-action movies.

Say what you will about Bay’s films, they never earned less than $600M at the box office; meanwhile, the franchise has struggled to reach $500M with any film released after Bay left in 2017, with Bumblebee, Transformers One, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts all being creatively rich, but modestly successful, releases. Therein lies the interesting question about Cooley place in all this. Transformers One offered deep-cut lore from modern Transformers comics, cartoons, and other media; currently, some of those comics are doing wonderful things with some lore that could be very relevant to this film franchise: the Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover.

Hardcore fans have been wondering if Image Comics’ “Energon Universe” gives both Transformers and G.I. Joe a more adult-themed tone, set against ’90s-era sci-fi-action (and even horror) tropes. That seems to be the exact place where Rise of the Beasts left things, with the Autobots’ new human ally, ex-soldier Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), being recruited by the G.I. Joe unit. Could Josh Cooley take the reins on that corner of the franchise, rather than another animated venture? Last we heard (a year ago), Derek Connolly was working on a script draft, and a director was still being sought. Maybe that search ended with Cooley?

It seems like a sensible bet: Bay’s films are set in their own canon, while films like Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts have been more direct adaptations of the original Transformers G1 cartoons and their canon. Those are two clearly different lanes of the franchise that fans are already familiar with, and having Cooley at the helm of a lore-heavy crossover like Transformers/G.I. Joe would actually make it a real contender for Bay’s next billion-dollar box office swing.

We’ll keep you updated on the status of the Transformers franchise as more develops.