Chabon, Vaughan head up writers for Hasbro Cinematic Universe

A Pulitzer Prize winner, a Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter and an award-winning comic-book scribe are getting to play in a cinematic sandbox with pop-culture toys and cartoons of yesteryear.

Paramount Pictures and Hasbro announced the writers room Thursday that will develop the upcoming shared movie universe featuring a continuation of the military-centric G.I. Joe franchise as well as films based on other 1980s properties including Micronauts, Visionaries, M.A.S.K. (short for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) and ROM.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldman (A Beautiful Mind) will serve as an executive producer on all the films and oversee the team of writers pulled together for the project: Michael Chabon, who won a Pulitzer for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; Lindsay Beer, currently working on the upcoming fifth Transformers film; Cheo Hodari Coker, who's heading up Marvel's Luke Cage show on Netflix; People vs. O.J. scribe Joe Robert Cole; Nicole Perlman, the Guardians writer who's also co-scripting the upcoming Captain Marvel film; Nicole Riegel, writer of the HBO miniseries Soldier Girls; Geneva Robertson, who's working on the new Tomb Raider film; and former Lost writers Jeff Pinkner and Brian K. Vaughan, who's also penned the noteworthy comics Y: The Last Man and Saga.

"Bringing together a writers room of this caliber is a bold step for our partnership, and one that we believe is critical for building these brands into new, successful franchises for the future,” said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures.

The Paramount/Hasbro team-up has definitely proven fruitful at the box office: Director Michael Bay's four Transformers movies since 2007 have grossed $3.8 billion worldwide, and two G.I. Joe films — including G.I. Joe: Retaliation three years ago — have hauled in $675 million.