Hasbro in Talks for Fourth 'Transformers' Movie, Cuts 'Ouija' Budget

NEW YORK - Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said Monday that the toy giant is in active discussions with studio partner Paramount, director Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg about a potential fourth Transformers movie, adding he hopes to have news to share in the next quarter.

our editor recommends

"Transformers" Roadblock Gets in the Way of Wimbledon 3D Screen Count

'Founding' eyes 'Transformers' record

'Transformers' Toys Boost Hasbro's Second-Quarter Profit



Speaking on his company's third-quarter earnings conference call, he also said that Hasbro continues to develop entertainment projects based on its brands - despite some delays and challenges. "We continue to actively develop a number of additional Hasbro films with great partners and writers, including Micronauts, Ouija, Candyland, Risk, Stretch Armstrong, Clue and Monopoly," he said.

Asked about the state of Hasbro's movie plans after Universal previously dropped a planned Ouija film due to budget concerns, Goldner said the partners are still working on Stretch Armstrong and Candyland and have Battleship coming out next year, putting the company in good shape.

On Ouija, he drew a comparison to Walt Disney's recent decision to restructure the budget for The Lone Ranger. That is "the same process we have gone through on the Ouija brand," although at a lower level of spending, he said. Goldner added that the script is in good shape and is being polished now, meaning that the film could be back with a studio shortly.

Meanwhile, a Micronauts script is being written for this project with JJ Abrams at Paramount, and the Monopoly, Risk and Clue scripts are also being worked on, according to the CEO. Plus, other projects are also in the works, even though they have not been announced yet, he added.

Would Hasbro ever produce its own movies? "No, we would not employ…a Marvel strategy," Goldner said.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai