Disney has Marvel and Star Wars, Warner Bros has DC and LEGO, and Sony has Ghostbusters and possibly Spider-Man. So it was only a matter of time before Paramount gets into the game by building a cinematic universe around their franchises, and they will start off with one of their more lucrative franchises: Transformers.

The studio will hire Akiva Goldsman to help map out the new Transformers universe, and Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, and Lorenzo di Bonaventura will act as executive producers/brain trust. More on this after the jump.

People either love or hate the Transformers film franchise. On one hand, Michael Bay has helped bring the war between the Autobots and Decepticons to life; and on the other, we got to hear many variations of Shia LeBeouf saying “No, no, no.” But the popularity of the source material is one of Paramount’s cash cows, and now they will be extending it as they have announced that Transformers 5 will be hitting theaters in 2016.

Paramount made the sequel announcement recently at a film conference in Europe. Other titles announced for 2016 include: Star Trek 3, G.I. Joe 3, Beverly Hills Cop 4, Hansel and Gretel 2, and Paranormal Activity 5. Hit the jump for more info.

It’s a popular way to save some money, knocking two movies out in one long grueling shoot, and it’s something that’s now being considered for Transformers 4 and Transformers 5.

Hasbro, the toy company behind the Transformers brand, sees massive dollar signs with the third movie in the film franchise, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, recently pulling in over $1 billion worldwide, as any business would. So, as was just reported, they’re now in “active discussions” with Paramount Pictures, director Michael Bay, and producer Steven Spielberg to figure out what the next step for the franchise will be, and now the added possibility of producing two films in one shot.