After months of generously supplying The A.V. Club with opportunities to shoehorn “outrageous” into news stories, John Chu’s Jem And The Holograms is finally opening in theaters this weekend. Having already brought another Hasbro property to the big screen with 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the release of Jem elevates Chu into the rarified, toy-company-sponsored air previously occupied exclusively by Transformers franchise director Michael Bay. And now that he has immersed himself into the milieu of Joes and Jems, Chu is now entertaining dreams of grandeur.
Speaking with Cinema Blend, the director confessed his desire to inherit Transformers from Bay. “I mean, I’m a huge Transformers fan, I would totally be down for that,” Chu admitted, before disclosing his true aspirations. “I really want to build my universe with Jem—but you could have Jem, G.I. Joe, and Transformers collide—one epic blockbuster!”
It’s certainly possible that Hasbro could look at the success of Marvel’s shared universe and see an opportunity to ramp up the merchandising to 11. Whether or not Chu could pull off a Hasbro-centipede is unclear, but for the moment, the director sounds content to remain focused on getting paid to ruin childhood memories one crappy movie at a time. “Of course, any chance to direct a really fun movie like Transformers would be great,” Chu said, “But right now [we’re] just focused on the world that we’re creating now.”