The next movie in the “Transformers” franchise gets a new title and setting.
At a virtual event on Tuesday, director Steven Caple Jr. revealed that the next film in the blockbuster franchise will be called “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”.
The film will introduce the Maximals and Predacons from the “Beast Wars” spin-off franchise, with the Terrorcons serving as the movie’s villains.
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. pic.twitter.com/VtS4CjSxLy
— Transformers (@transformers) June 22, 2021
The director also revealed that “Rise of the Beast” will centre on Optimus Prime, and will follow up the ’80s-set “Bumblebee” by being set in the year 1994.
In the film, audiences will see Optimus Prime forming his lasting bond with the people of Earth.
“It allows us to get beneath the stoicism of Optimus Prime,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said.
The film will shoot around the world, including Montreal, and will be set primarily in Brooklyn, New York, as well as Machu Picchu, Peru.
Bumblebee will also be returning for the new film, taking the form of a classic yellow Camaro, but decked out with off-road features.
The villain will be Scourge, the leader of the Terrorcons, while “Beast Wars” characters include Airazor, Rhinox and Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals.
Joining all the robot aliens are the human characters, Noah, played by Anthony Ramos, and Elina, played by Dominique Fishback.
“The one thing I love about Noah is his tenacity,” Ramos says of his ex-soldier character just trying to help his family get by.
Elina, meanwhile, is an artifact researcher who works at a museum.
Fishback revealed that she has to learn how to drive just for the film, after growing up in New York, while Ramos said the he also got his driver’s license for the movie
