Ever since it became clear that we would have both Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises at the multiplex, fans have been curious to see if a crossover movie would ever materialize.  After all, mixing and matching Transformers and G.I. Joe toys was a staple of many childhoods, and Hasbro is behind both feature film adaptations.  The former film series remains one of the more successful franchises in rotation, with Michael Bay’s fourth film, Transformers: Age of Extinction, poised to make a hefty amount at the box office as well.  As for G.I. Joe, a third film is now in the works with Dwayne Johnson at the center as Roadblock.

Steve recently sat down with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura in anticipation of the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction, and he asked di Bonaventura (who produces both Transformers and G.I. Joe) if a crossover might ever happen.  The producer explained that there’s no need for a mash-up movie when both franchises are going strong on their own, but didn’t rule out the possibility in the far future.  More after the jump.

Before Steve could even finish his question about a Transformers/G.I. Joe movie, di Bonaventura cut him off with a curt “No.”  The producer went on to explain why the prospect is not on his mind:

“The reason I go ‘No’ so quickly is I think neither world has run out of energy individually.  I don’t think until we really feel boxed in that it’s necessary to bring the two of them together.”

Di Bonaventura added that he gets asked about the prospect quite regularly, but reiterated that all involved can’t see the advantage (creatively or commercially) to meld the two series together right now:

“I understand and I don’t disagree that it’ll be an interesting idea, it’s just it’s an idea that’s not ready yet from my perspective and I think most of us involved don’t yet see the advantage of that.”

The producer didn’t rule the idea out entirely, saying sometime down the road he imagines a Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover will come to fruition:

“No doubt somewhere in the future we’ll figure that out, but I think it’s a while in the future.”

Speaking specifically to the difficulty in bringing the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises together, di Bonaventura gave an example of the complicated mythology in the Transformers universe:

“As people can see with [Transformers 4], we’ve just expanded this mythology.  It’s hard enough to deal with a big giant mythology in one movie, [but] to combine the two mythologies it’s a lot harder than people think, and not necessarily great for—suddenly you go, ‘Wait a second.’  I’ll give you an example, to switch from the Witwickys to the Yaegers is really complicated because do you acknowledge the Witwickys?  Do you not?  Would they know them?  All the things that come into that.  And we made a very conscious decision to stick with the Yaegers because it starts getting muddied in a way, so I think for the moment we all view it that way, and over time it’ll change.”

So fans clamoring to see their childhood playtime acted out on the big screen need to give it a rest for a while.  Given Hollywood’s penchant for expanding, rebooting, and spinning off lucrative franchises, it’s highly likely that a Transformers/G.I. Joe movie will happen, but not anytime soon.

Watch the portion of Steve's interview with di Bonaventura regarding the crossover film below, and look for the full interview on Collider soon.