Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)

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So for now, let the battle be here, on this strange, primitive world. And let it be called... Beast Wars!

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Production info Production companies Skydance Media Entertainment One di Bonaventura Pictures New Republic Pictures Bay Films Distributor Paramount Pictures Release date June 9, 2023 Story by Joby Harold Screenplay by Joby Harold Darnell Metayer Josh Peters Erich Hoeber Jon Hoeber Directed by Steven Caple Jr. Edited by Stuart Levy Brett M. Reed Cinematography by Enrique Chediak Music by Jongnic Bontemps Executive producer(s) Steven Spielberg Brian Goldner Brian Oliver Bradley J. Fischer Valerii An David Ellison Dana Goldberg Don Granger Continuity Live-action film series Running time 117 minutes Budget $200 million

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the planned seventh film in the live-action film series, serving both as a sequel to Bumblebee and a tribute to Beast Wars. The film is directed by Steven Caple Jr. and written by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber. Originally expected to be released on June 28, 2019, the film was delayed multiple times until finally being released on June 9, 2023.

Cast

Autobots / Maximals	Terrorcons / Predacons	Humans	Others
Autobots Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) Bumblebee Mirage (Pete Davidson) Arcee (Liza Koshy) Wheeljack (Cristo Fernández) Stratosphere (John DiMaggio) Maximals Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) Airazor (Michelle Yeoh) Rhinox (David Sobolov) Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa) Apelinq (David Sobolov)	Terrorcons Scourge (Peter Dinklage) Nightbird (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) Battletrap (David Sobolov) Freezer Predacons Scorponok	Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) Breanna Diaz (Luna Lauren Velez) Kris Diaz (Dean Scott Vasquez) Reek (Tobe Nwigwe) Jillian Robertson (Sarah Stiles) Amaru (Lucas Huarancca) G.I. Joe Agent Burke (Michael Kelly)	Unicron (Colman Domingo)

Continuity notes

• While waiting for Noah to infiltrate the museum, Bumblebee alludes to his time spent befriending Charlie Watson in the previous film.

Transformers references

• The idea of the Maximals living on another planet, visually resembling the planet Eukaris from the 2005 IDW comics, while keeping the idea of them landing on prehistoric Earth like the Beast Wars cartoon.
• The concept of the Predacon version Scorpronok being an army originates from the War for Cybertron cartoon
• Mirage briefly turns into an F1 car, a reference to his original G1 counterpart's alternate mode.
• The Freezers transform into spherical orbs, a nod to the "Armada" Dead End Drones.
• Scourge being a herald of Unicron is a reference to his Generation 1 counterpart, while keeping his black truck motif from the 2001 Robots in Disguise anime.
  • The amount of Insignias include Decepticon, Autobot, Maximal, Predacon, Terrorcon, Mercenary and Wreckers faction symbols.
  • Scourge being imbued with "dark energy" that makes him stronger by the power of Unicron is possibly a reference to Dark Energon, which has shown similar effects and is also connected to Unicron.
• Scourge name drops Primus as he taunts Optimus Prime.
• G.I. Joe and Transformers have frequently crossed over in comics and the occasional toyline over the years, though this marks the first time the two have co-existed in a feature film.

Real-life references

• Throughout the film, Noah and Kris uses the codenames "Sonic" and "Tails" (and in one instance, Mirage is referred to as "Knuckles"), a nod to the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog videogame series.
• Kris wears a shirt of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, another property owned by Hasbro.
• Kris heard playing Super Mario Bros. on his Game Boy. However, see Errors.
• One of the voice lines that Bumblebee uses is from the film, Spaceballs.
• At the end of the film, Elena appears on the CBS news program 60 Minutes; host Lesley Stahl made a cameo appearance as herself during the segment.

Errors

• Though the sound effects and mention of Bowser imply Kris is playing Super Mario Bros. on his Game Boy, that game wouldn't see a release on the system until 1999's Super Mario Bros. Deluxe on the Game Boy Color. The only Mario platformers released for Game Boy by that point were the Super Mario Land games, which featured different antagonists than Bowser.

Music

A score album, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Music from the Motion Picture), was released alongside the film on June 9, 2023. Paramount also compiled a Spotify Playlist, Transformers Rise of the Beats, featuring songs that appeared in the film.

Development details

Why did it take so long?

• March 27, 2015 — Paramount Pictures negotiates with Akiva Goldsman, hiring him to create a "writer's room" with the intention of building a cinematic universe. Goldsman goes on to hire a number of writers over the next few months: Steven DeKnight (Daredevil), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Christina Hodson (Shut In, The Fugitive), Lindsey Beer (Dig), Zak Penn (Pacific Rim 2), Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Lost), Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man), Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Involved in the pitching process are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, and Don Murphy.
• October 3, 2015 — During his keynote speech at the MIP Junior Conference, Allspark's Stephen J. Davis notes that the writing team has come up with film concepts for Transformers 5, 6, 7, and 8.
• February 12, 2016 — At Toy Fair 2016, Hasbro reveals the projected release date of Transformers 7, along with the dates for the two preceding films.
• September 23, 2017 — At Licensing Europe 2017, Hasbro announces Transformers 7 will have an "entirely new, exciting storyline".
• February 16, 2018 — Hasbro clarifies at Toy Fair 2018 that the film will be a reset of the franchise and has been delayed indefinitely until a new creative team is in place.
• May 24, 2018 — Paramount drops the film from their release schedule.
• March 15, 2019 — di Bonaventura states a sequel to Bumblebee is in development.
• March 18, 2019 — di Bonaventura claims that the next main Transformers film will be a reboot closely tied to the Bumblebee sequel, rather than a direct sequel to The Last Knight. Either way, Paramount will pick the best script for Transformers 7 and release that first.

KARR NOT BIKE!

Actually, not the first time The Transformers meet Mad Max...

• January 27, 2020 — Variety reports two Transformers films are being penned, to be produced simultaneously: one written by James Vanderbilt, another to be written by Joby Harold. Deadline reports that Vanderbilt's script is for a spin-off film based on Beast Wars, while Harold's script continues the story from the Bumblebee film.
• May 2, 2020 — Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner confirms that a new Transformers live-action movie is slated to release on June 24, 2022. However, only one between Harold's Bumblebee sequel and Vanderbilt's Beast Wars film will make it to production first.
• August 21, 2020 — New Republic Pictures is announced as a new co-financier for Paramount in a ten picture deal in the wake of the success of 2019's Rocketman.
• November 16, 2020 — Steven Caple Jr. is announced as the director.
• April 1, 2021 — Anthony Ramos is in talks for a starring role.
• April 29, 2021 — Dominique Fishback is in final negotiations to star in the film.
• June 13, 2021 — A casting call sheet for filming in Montreal reveals that the film is set in 1992.
• June 22, 2021 — A Paramount virtual event is held in which the movie's title, premise, and few of the characters and cast are unveiled (revealing it to be both the Bumblebee and Beast Wars films in one). The film's logo and official premise are also unveiled on official Transformers social media accounts.
• June 28, 2021 — Ron Perlman is announced to be reprising his role as Optimus Primal from Power of the Primes. Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters are confirmed as writers, inspired by Joby Harold's earlier draft.
• July 11, 2021 — Rapper Tobe Nwigwe announces on Instagram that he's been cast in the movie.
• October 6, 2021 — Caple Jr. reveals the vehicle modes for the Autobot and Terrorcon cast through his Instagram account.
• October 20, 2021 — Filming is completed.
• October 21, 2021 — Cuscopolita reports on the vehicles with the film's Peru crew, confirming the unidentified vehicles as Wheeljack and Battletrap.
• October 22, 2021 — Ramos makes a guest appearance on Hasbro Pulse Con 2021, confirming Cheetor, his favorite Beast Wars character, will be in the film.
• November 10, 2021 — Paramount announces the film has been delayed to June 9, 2023.
• February 15, 2022 — Paramount confirms that Rise of the Beasts will be the first entry in a trilogy of films.
• October 11, 2022 — Caple Jr. reveals through Instagram that Pete Davidson is the voice of Mirage, and Michelle Yeoh is the voice of Airazor.
• October 21, 2022 — Tobe Nwigwe states on an Instagram post that they are doing some re-shoots for Rise of the Beasts, including featuring his character in additional scenes.

• December 1, 2022 — The official teaser trailer is released by Paramount Pictures in conjunction with São Paulo's CCXP convention, giving audiences a first glimpse of the film and its various characters, including Mirage, Arcee, Scourge and the Maximals. Multiple voice cast members are also announced.
• December 2, 2022 — Jongnic Bontemps is announced as the film's score composer.
• December 16, 2022 — Caple Jr. shares a clip of Peter Cullen performing on his Instagram account.
• December 26, 2022 — Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal make a "guest" appearance on the 2022 Nickelodeon Nickmas NFL game, showcasing both modes and their transformations.
• January 31, 2023 — Sam Smith reveals toy concept art for a new character from the film, Freezer.
• February 12, 2023 — Paramount airs a 30-second TV spot detailing Mirage's Porsche 911 vehicle mode for Super Bowl LVII in collaboration with Porsche.
• April 2, 2023 — During the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Final Four on CBS, Paramount aired a first-of-its-kind mixed reality TV spot that showed off Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal appearing on a 90s basketball court that transformed from the court the actual basketball match was being played on. A few brief clips from the first trailer were also shown.
• April 6, 2023 — Actor Tongayi Chirisa announces on Instagram that he is the voice of Cheetor.
• April 14, 2023 — To promote the film, Optimus Prime introduces Tobe Nwigwe's performance of "On My Soul" at Coachella.
• April 27, 2023 — The official trailer is released by Paramount Pictures, revealing more of the movie and Unicron's role in the plot, as well as delivering a first, brief look at the Predacons.
• May 6, 2023 — The first clip was showcased at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards, showing the Autobots' first interaction with the Maximals.
• May 12, 2023 — The website Puliwood reveals the film's Hungarian dub cast...including the voice of Apelinq, a character that had not yet been announced to be appearing in the film.
• May 27, 2023 — The film's world premiere is held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
• June 5, 2023 — David Sobolov confirms on Instagram that he is also voicing Apelinq in the film.

Notes

• In a first for the franchise, the lead human actors, multiple writers, the composer, and the director are all people of color.
• During the production of the film, Ramos had to acquire a driver's license at Caple Jr.'s behest.
• This is the first movie in the series not to be worked on by Industrial Light & Magic; this time around the CG effects were done by Moving Picture Company and WetaFX.
• During an interview with a fan, voice actor David Sobolov revealed that Caple Jr. would create storyboards using Transformers toys. Awesome!
• According to Caple Jr., Optimus's unmasked face was modeled after Peter Cullen's.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Transformers/Beast Kakusei (トランスフォーマー/ビースト覚醒 Toransufōmā Bīsuto Kakusei, "Transformers: Beast Awakening")
• Cantonese: Bin³jing⁴ Gam¹gong¹: Kwong⁴sau³ Gwat⁶hei² (變形金剛：狂獸崛起, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts")
• French: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (France), Transformers : Le Réveil des Bêtes (Canada, "Transformers: The Awakening of the Beasts")
• German: Transformers: Aufstieg der Bestien ("Transformers: Rise of the Beasts")
• Hungarian: Transformers: A fenevadak kora ("Transformers: The Age of the Beasts")
• Italian: Transformers: Il Risveglio ("Transformers: The Awakening")
• Mandarin: Biànxíng Jīngāng: Wàn Shòu Juéqǐ (Taiwan, 變形金剛：萬獸崛起, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"), Biànxíng Jīngāng: Chāonéng Yǒngshì Juéqǐ (Mainland China, 变形金刚：超能勇士崛起, "Transformers: Rise of the Beast Wars")
• Portuguese: Transformers: O Despertar das Feras (Brazil, "Transformers: The Awakening of the Beasts")
• Spanish: Transformers: El Despertar de las Bestias ("Transformers: The Awakening of the Beasts")