"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" wows fans with "G.I. Joe" crossover and $40 million opening in China.
The surprise ending of "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" sets up a crossover between Hasbro's biggest toy lines, Transformers and G.I. Joe, and teases the beginning of a shared Hasbro Cinematic Universe. The idea of bringing together the two franchises dates back to 2015, but it was only greenlit three weeks ago. The standalone G.I. Joe franchise has struggled to match the success of the Transformers movies, and the producer thinks that a surplus of characters has been one of the elements that has held those films back from becoming as big as the ones starring Hasbro's giant transforming robots.