Paramount Pictures and Hasbro announce Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the next movie in the franchise, will be released June 24, 2022.
“The battle on Earth is no longer just between Autobots and Decepticons… Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons join Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, in theatres June 24, 2022,” posted the Transformers social networks.
The live-action flick is adapting the popular Beast Wars animated series and action figure line which sees the Autobots (Maximals) and Decepticons (Predacons) transform into animals and dinosaurs instead of vehicles i.e. Optimus Primal as a gorilla, Megatron as a dinosaur, Rhinox is a rhino, Cheetor is a cheetah, Scorponok is a scorpion, etc.
Details released at the Paramount virtual panel include the seventh Transformers film will be set in 1994 (which around the same time when the Beast Wars action figures debuted), and while its central characters are based in Brooklyn, the film will move between New York and Machu Pichu.
“In their disguise they [take on] animal form,” said director Steven Caple Jr. “So…in our film, they’re these prehistoric animals that travel through time and space, and we find them here on Earth. The Predacons in our film are more reptilian in nature. We’ve seen a few in other Transformers films, but [in the new film], we get to see another side of them. It’s all about building a backstory to these characters, and we’ll see that more on the Predacon and Terracon side.”
“You’re going to see villians you’ve never seen, Autobots you’ve never seen, elements we’ve never done before,” added producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. “One of the driving decisions along the way is, ‘Have we done that before?’ whether that’s an action scene or a character.”
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is starring Anthony Ramos (In The Heights) and Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) who spoke about their characters.
“I’m playing…an intelligent artifact researcher who works at a museum,” said Fishback. “She’s trying to get a leg up in life but her boss keeps taking credit for the work she’s done, so she’s trying to [move out] on her own.”
Ramos’ character is described as a military vet who lives in Brooklyn with his family, serving as a father figure, of sorts, for his brother, and he is “amazing with electronics.”
“He’s all about taking care of the people he loves,” Ramos said. “[He comes] from a lower-income home, so Noah’s always hustling. The one thing I love about Noah is his tenacity and his heart, and his will to never quit, in spite of all the crazy things life is throwing at him. Then, it’s amazing to see his journey when we venture out into the world, when the humans meet bots and things start to happen.”
The event also showed off early designs for Mirage (Porsche 911), Arcee (Optimus Primal’s lieutenant), Nightbird (Scourge’s main lieutenant), Air Razor, Rhinox, Optimus Primal, the “ruthless and scary” Terracon leader known as Scourge (the main villain), and a new “off-road” Camaro version of Bumblebee.
Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters wrote the script for Paramount, eOne and Hasbro, based off of an earlier draft by Joby Harold.
Worth a mention is that Transformers is going in a new direction as Michael Bay is no longer involved (update: Bay is said to be onboard as producer), with Paramount and Hasbro developing more Transformers projects including a second live-action film and an animated Cybertron prequel.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts:
(via Deadline)
