Now that we know that the first two projects are actually the same movie, some background info has surfaced that will affect the size and scale of future movies from Paramount.
Since the arrangement with a Chinese investment company has ended, there have been some changes occurring at Paramount, and it sounds like they won't be bank-rolling big budget movies in the foreseeable future (sending more movies to their new streaming service, kinda like the old direct-to-video/dvd movies that would skip the theatres and miss out on a lot of extra revenue), requiring partners like Hasbro to cover more of the cost, in exchange for more creative control.
It could be a good thing... as it might improve story and character integrity, but will reduce the amount of special effects.