Skydance Media, which co-financed and co-produced Transformers and G.I. Joe live-action movies for Paramount Pictures, is moving away from the big mountain in favor of Apple.

However, it is stated that Skydance Media will still retain the rights to co-produce and co-finance Transformers & G.I. Joe franchises. But the terms of that are unclear at the moment.

This move will likely put pressure on the Viacom subsidiary to seek out a new co-producer.

Skydance Media’s last outing with a movie based on a Hasbro property ended up in a financial disaster with Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins only raking in just $40 million worldwide against a production budget of $100 million.

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins will hit Japanese theaters on October 22nd. To celebrate the release, a brand new original song for the movie is performed by [appropriately named band] Ninja Kaigi.

Titled ‘Stealth Dive’, the song is inspired by the story of the movie. You can listen to a portion of the song, below:

President of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group (MPG) Emma Watts has resigned from her position in the wake of the departure of CEO Jim Gianopulos and other executives.

Emma Watts was instrumental in rebuilding Paramount, following the downfall of the studio in 2017. The tasks she did were second only to Mr. Gianopulos, and she was touted as the replacement of the CEO once he resigns. In 2020, she was appointed as the overseer of Transformers & G.I. Joe Live Action Movie Franchises.

Jump to the present day. ViacomCBS Chairman Shari Redstone surprised the entire company by naming Brian Robbins as the new CEO of Paramount Pictures. After what is reportedly a heated discussion, Emma Watts stepped down from her position which was quickly filled not by one, but two heads for the Motion Picture Group. Mike Ireland & Daria Cercek will now lead MPG as co-presidents.

At the time of her departure, Emma Watts was catering to Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Dungeons & Dragons among others.

Mike Ireland & Daria Cercek is to look after the G.I. Joe Live Action Movie Franchise as successors of Emma Watts.

The new CEO Brian Robbins stated the following:

“Paramount also benefited greatly from the deep talents of Emma Watts who, among so many accomplishments, helped build a terrific team at the studio, facilitated overall deals with top-tier talent including John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds, and shepherded a number of exciting upcoming projects including the latest film in the Star Trek franchise, the newest Transformers film, and a star-studded Dungeons & Dragons adaptation. We wish her nothing but success in her future.”

TFW2005 attended the Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference to learn more about Paramount’s future plans. Bob Bakish, the President and CEO of ViacomCBS, stated that in the future Paramount will send low-budget movies directly to streaming (Paramount+ service) while kids/family-friendly movies will see ‘day and day release’ (theatrical and streaming at the same time). Big budget movies will see theatrical release followed by a short window (45 days as opposed to 90 days) to their home release. However, Mr. Bakish stated that such plans may change in the future.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, CFO Deb Thomas, and eOne CEO Darren Throop attended Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference this morning.

During the event, Mr. Goldner stated that some toys will be delayed by a quarter due to prevailing logistic concerns. He explained that as an example, a toy that was supposed to release in quarter 3 will be pushed to quarter 4 (late 2021 – early 2022). However, the company did not specify which toys will experience this delay. On a happier note, Brian Goldner stated that they are seeing gradual ease in the situation. The toy giant is using all kinds of tactics including the usage of additional ports to circumnavigate the issue.

Also due to COVID-19 pandemic, eOne will evaluate Hasbro movie releases on a case-by-case basis. Some movies will release theatrically with a shorter theatrical window as opposed to the usual 90-days before hitting home video. Some will directly shift to streaming. CEO of eOne confirmed that Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts and the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie will see a theatrical release, but did not elaborate on the release window period (90 Days vs. 45 Days). However, Mr. Throop stated that a shorter window will benefit merchandise sales.

Brian Goldner stated that more entertainment content is on its way for properties such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and Risk.

Paramount Pictures has sent us a press release; officially announcing their restructuring within the company.

As previously heard, Brian Robbins will take over Jim Gianopulos as the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. Meanwhile, David Nevins will oversee Paramount Television.

However, in an interesting twist, Brian Robbins will primarily oversee films produced for Paramount+ streaming service, while David Nevins will oversee scripted series for the same platform.

It is also interesting that mentioning theatrical releases has taken a back seat on the press release.

Jim Gianopulos will remain as an advisor for the remainder of the year and the company had good things to say about him:

“During his time at Paramount, Gianopulos has been responsible for creating and restoring massively successful franchises including A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II, with more films in the works; Sonic the Hedgehog, with a sequel slated for release next year; Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the most profitable and critically-acclaimed film in the franchise, with the seventh and eight installments in production; the highly-anticipated Top Gun: Maverick; and Bumblebee, which marked a reinvigorated Transformers brand, returning the franchise to both profitability and critical acclaim. Additionally, Gianopulos rebuilt the popular Tom Clancy franchise across both film and television and was responsible for the award-winning 2018 hit Elton John biopic Rocketman.”

You can check out the full press release, after the jump.

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Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos is set to step down from his position.

Following the underwhelming box-office yield of Transformers: The Last Knight and China’s clampdown on foreign investments, HuaHua Media left its partnership with Paramount Pictures at the end of 2017. HuaHua Media was supposed to fund 25% of the next two Transformers movies and 25% of all Paramount movies until 2020.

2017 was not a kind year for Paramount. That year, the movie production giant saw a loss of $445 million; where $100 million loss was from Transformers: The Last Knight alone.

Enter Jim Gianopulos.

Mr. Gianopulos took decisive action to turn things around for Paramount and it worked. At the end of 2017, Paramount Pictures entered a new agreement with Hasbro, where the toy giant would chip in more money to their movies but at greater creative control.

Such steps ensured the financial safety of Paramount and the company went on to produce critically acclaimed movies such as A Quiet Place and Bumblebee under the new leadership of Jim Gianopulos.

All things must come to an end and so does the tenure of Mr. Jim Gianopulos. We wish him the very best for his future work and we also wish his successor Brian Robbins, a wonderful stay with many Hasbro movies to follow.

On a closing note, Paramount has expressed their interest to drop big-budget movies in favor of smaller productions that will directly go on their streaming service Paramount+.

“What this is all setting up, according to insiders, is Paramount retreating from big theatrical productions to focus on titles – remakes, branded content, cheaper fare – that will service its streamer, Paramount+.” -Borys Kit, Journalist

There is a likelihood that this move may affect the pending renewal of the aforementioned agreement with Hasbro at the end of the year 2022.

You can also read follow-up articles for this development via Deadline and Hollywood Reporter.

Surprising everyone, Paramount Pictures has decided to release Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins on Premium Digital and Digital VOD tomorrow (August 17th, 2021).

In addition to the new info, we now know of the bonus content within the physical release (4K Ultra HD) of the movie; which will come out on October 17th as previously reported.

Bonus Content:

• Morning Light: A Weapon with Stories to Tell: Discover the secrets of Snake Eyes’ legendary sword, Morning Light, in this all-new short film.
• Deleted Scenes: what you didn’t see in theaters.
• Enter Snake Eyes – find out what it took to bring the iconic hero’s origin story to life.
• A Deadly Ensemble: meet fan-favorite heroes, villains, and new characters in the G.I. Joe franchise.
• Arashikage: dive into the elite ninja warrior world of the Arashikage clan.

Once again thanks to Australian Classifications, we have learned that the bonus footage will accumulate into 31 additional minutes on top of the movie’s runtime.

Finally, you can check out the ‘On Digital’ trailer, after the jump.

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Despite ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish stating that the company will stick to its 45-day theater-to-home window, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Home Release has been delayed to October 19th from its original September 6th date.

A new press release highlights the updated release date along with the links to previously known versions of the movie:

“An origin story that sheds light on the background of the most mysterious member of the elite US counterterrorist team, “GI Joe.” Snake Eyes saves the life of a very important member of an ancient clan of Japanese ninja warriors and is invited to learn their guarded secrets. He finds home and belonging among them while improving upon his already exceptional natural gifts. Unfortunately, revelations of a troubled past threaten his happiness amongst his adopted “family” of warriors, and he must reckon with questions of loyalty and allegiance.”

You can pre-order the home release from the following links:

• Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD disc + Digital edition
• Blu-ray disc + Digital edition
• Steelbook
• G.I. Joe 3-Movie Collection 4K Blu-ray
• G.I. Joe 3-Movie Collection Blu-ray
• DVD (NTSC)
• Amazon Prime Video HD & SD

We have rounded up quite a lot of new concept art from Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins movie.

Once again we are thanking artist Constantine Sekeris for his amazing work.

Mr. Sekeris collaborated with costume designer Louise Mingenbach to come up with costume ideas for Snake Eyes. Ms. Mingenbach previously worked on G.I. Joe: Retaliation and is the brainchild for the finalized costume we saw for Cobra Commander.

You can support Constantine Sekeris via his ArtStation profile.

Artist Constantine Sekeris has uploaded several concept art images done for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

Included in this first look:

• Snake Eyes
• Storm Shadow
• Scarlett
• Baroness

“Snake Eyes Movie designs I worked on with the talented Costume Designer Louise Mingenbach. We worked on the film and the toys simultaneously. Storm shadow ended up getting pulled back to his original suit, but Hasbro decided to make the toy version haha. Shout out to Constantine Sekeris and Luca Nemolato for doing a phenomenal job on Snake Eyes and Scarlet!”

With these concept art reveals, it is clear where the Core Ninja toy of Storm Shadow originated from.

However, concept art for Baroness is extremely close to the final design.

You can check out all the designs, after the jump.