Transformers One (film)

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Transformers One

The motion picture you are about to see is an adaptation of the Exodus story. While artistic and historical license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide.

Transformers One

Production info Production companies Hasbro Entertainment di Bonaventura Pictures Bayhem Films Paramount Animation New Republic Pictures Distributor Paramount Pictures Release date September 20, 2024 Story by Andrew Barrer Gabriel Ferrari Screenplay by Eric Pearson Andrew Barrer Gabriel Ferrari Directed by Josh Cooley Music by Brian Tyler Producer(s) Lorenzo di Bonaventura Tom DeSanto Don Murphy Michael Bay Mark Vahradian Aaron Dem Executive producer(s) Steven Spielberg Zev Foreman Olivier Dumont Brian Oliver B.J. Farmer Matt Quigg Running time 104 minutes Budget $75 million Credits

Transformers One is an animated film released on September 20, 2024. It is written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, and directed by Josh Cooley. The movie is an origin story set on Cybertron three billion years ago in the days before the Autobot-Decepticon war, and focuses on Optimus Prime and Megatron as they go from brothers-in-arms to enemies.

“	The line between friend and enemy is not as clear as I once believed. Once it's crossed, there is no going back. Because some transformations are permanent...	”
—Optimus Prime

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Transformers One (film) follow. Spoilers expire in 142 days

Long ago, the benevolent Primus sacrificed his life essence to become Cybertron and created the first generation of Transformers, the Primes. Through the power of the Matrix of Leadership, energon flowed freely from the planet's core, and the Primes ruled justly for a time. However, when the Quintessons invaded, the Primes were slain and the Matrix of Leadership was lost, leaving only Sentinel Prime to rule the planet in their absence. Fifty cycles after the war, Cybertronian society now relies on an oppressed underclass of manual laborers born without transformation cogs, including a caste of miners who physically extract what few veins of usable energon remain from the tunnels beneath the subterranean Iacon City, while Sentinel Prime searches for the missing Matrix on the surface of the planet. One impulsive miner named Orion Pax has been searching for information regarding the Matrix, in the hopes that finding the artifact will restore Cybertron to prosperity and allow him and his fellow miners to choose their own path in life. However, his latest break-in into the city archives draws the unwanted attention of two guards, leading to a chase through the streets until Orion's friend D-16 bails him out. On the train to work, Orion, knowing that his friend idolizes the strongest Prime, gifts D-16 an old Megatronus Prime decal.

In the mines, D-16 and Orion work under the supervision of their captain Elita-1, using jetpacks and deployable support poles to keep Cybertron's shifting geology stable long enough for them to extract energon. However, Wheeljack accidentally hits a vein of unstable energon, and the ensuing explosion traps Jazz under a rockfall. Orion and D-16 defy protocol and use a jetpack to save their coworker, but Darkwing blames Elita for the disaster and demotes her to waste management duty. That evening, Sentinel Prime returns to Iacon to announce that he still has not found the Matrix; to take the blow off this bad news, Sentinel declares that the prestigious Iacon 5000 race will be held the next day. Orion tries to persuade D-16 to join him in the race, hoping that they can prove to the rest of Cybertron that mining bots deserve respect, but D-16 has no interest in the idea. The next day, Orion leads D-16 to the area behind the race's starting line; while D-16 is initially excited to watch from a perfect vantage point, Orion reveals his true intention as he straps jetpacks to the two just as the race begins. Using their jetpacks and some quick thinking to compensate for their inability to transform, the two briefly manage to take the lead, but ultimately place last after D-16 is injured on the home stretch.

In Iacon's medical center, Sentinel Prime meets with Orion and D-16; impressed with their performance in the race, he offers them a chance to tour the mines and help inspire their comrades to work harder. However, Darkwing arrives before Airachnid can escort them to Sentinel's private quarters; angered that he nearly lost the race to the pair, he banishes them to the planet's 50th sub-level, where they meet the eccentric B-127, who has been trapped there for years with only garbage statues for company. The three accidentally discover an old beacon from the Quintesson war inside one of B-127's "friends", still broadcasting a set of coordinates located somewhere on the planet's surface. Orion, B-127, and D-16 decide to investigate, and stow away aboard a surface-bound garbage train. Elita-1 discovers them and attempts to stop them, but is forced to join the quest after she is locked onto the train with them.

After arriving on the planet's surface, narrowly escaping the planet's volatile tectonic movements, and dodging a roaming Quintesson vessel, the four Cybertronians arrive at a hidden cave where the ancient Primes made their final stand against the Quintessons. Although the Matrix is nowhere to be found, Orion discovers that Alpha Trion's spark still pulses, and uses an energon cube to revive him. The four attempt to bring Trion up to speed on recent events, but their mention of "Sentinel Prime" causes Trion to reveal the terrible truth: Sentinel is an imposter, a traitorous aide who led the Primes into a Quintesson ambush and killed them—however, when Sentinel tried to claim the Matrix, the artifact judged him unworthy and disappeared. To appease his new masters, Sentinel has deliberately stolen transformation cogs from newly-created Transformers to keep them producing energon in the mines; at Trion's urging, the four emerge from the cave to witness Sentinel pledging servitude to the Quintesson High Commander and learn the city's garbage trains are really transporting Cybertron's dwindling energon supplies to Quintesson ships, leaving barely enough for the people of Cybertron. These revelations leaves D-16 shattered, but Alpha Trion decides to give the team hope by gifting them the transformation cogs of his fallen comrades and a recording of Sentinel's treachery. When Sentinel's Death Trackers arrive, Alpha Trion holds them off long enough for Orion and the others to escape using their new alternate modes, even though his sacrifice ends in his capture and subsequent execution at Sentinel's hand.

You're playing with the big boys now!

Using the incriminating information encoded on a crystalline vessel, Orion and the team plan to return to Iacon and use the evidence to expose Sentinel as a traitor, although D-16's desire to kill Sentinel unnerves Orion. Before they can make it back to the city, however, they are captured by former members of Cybertron's High Guard, who have been fighting a guerrilla war against the Quintessons ever since the fall of the Primes. D-16 gives in to his growing rage and takes control of the High Guard after besting their leader Starscream in single combat, but Sentinel's forces discover their secret base; in the ensuing battle, D-16, B-127, Starscream, and many members of the High Guard are taken prisoner, and the recording is destroyed. Orion despairs, believing their quest to be hopeless now, but Elita encourages him to fight on, and they gain the support of the remaining members of the Guard. At Sentinel's tower, D-16 discovers that Sentinel took Megatronus's transformation cog when he killed him; when D-16 refuses to kneel, Sentinel humiliates his prisoner by carving a crude copy of Megatronus's symbol into D-16's chest.

Goodbye, brother.

Upon returning to Iacon City, Orion rallies the miners to join forces with the High Guard and rebel against Sentinel's regime, while Elita and the High Guard commandeer a train and fly it into Sentinel's tower. Once freed, a furious D-16 attempts to kill Sentinel, but is unable to do so before Orion, Elita, and B-127 broadcast incriminating recordings from Airachnid’s memories to reveal Sentinel’s misdeeds to the people of Iacon, leading to a city-wide uprising. Although D-16 insists that Sentinel must die for his crimes, Orion tries to convince his friend that they can be better than their enemies; their argument ends with D-16 accidentally shooting Orion when he leaps in the path of his fusion cannon. Although momentarily horrified by his actions, D-16 ultimately decides that he's done saving his former friend and lets Orion plummet into Cybertron's core. As Orion falls, D-16—insistent that there will be no more Primes—rips Sentinel in half, seizes his transformation cog, and declares himself "Megatron" before leading the High Guard to ransack what's left of the city.

Meanwhile, the mortally wounded Orion falls through the planetary strata until he finally reaches Cybertron's core. There, he encounters the spirits of the Primes, who announce that Primus has deemed him worthy to carry the Matrix of Leadership. Reborn as "Optimus Prime", Optimus returns to the surface in time to stop Megatron from killing B-127 and Elita. Optimus ultimately triumphs in their fight, and reluctantly banishes Megatron and his new allies to the wilderness. With the return of the Matrix of Leadership, Cybertron is restored to life; the former miners receive transformation cogs and become fully autonomous "Autobots” who vow to defend Cybertron from any future Quintesson incursions. However, the Quintessons are not the only looming threat—in the shadows, Megatron and his followers rechristen themselves the "Decepticons" and swear revenge.

Cast

Miners	High Guard	Primes	Others
Orion Pax / Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) D-16 / Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) Jazz (Evan Michael Lee) Arcee (Jinny Chung) Bluestreak Brawn Hound Huffer Ironhide Mirage Prowl Ratchet Red Alert Sideswipe Sunstreaker Wheeljack Windcharger	Starscream (Steve Buscemi) Soundwave (Jon Bailey) Shockwave (Jason Konopisos-Alvarez) Skywarp (Josh Cooley) Thundercracker Dirge Ramjet Thrust Slipstream	Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne) Zeta Prime (James Remar) Megatronus Prime Alchemist Prime Amalgamous Prime Liege Maximo Micronus Prime Nexus Prime Onyx Prime Quintus Prime Solus Prime Vector Prime Prima	Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) Airachnid (Vanessa Liguori) Quintesson High Commander Quintessons Primus Death Trackers Guards (Steve Blum, Jason Konopisos-Alvarez) Announcer Bot (Steve Blum) Racers Darkwing (Isaac C. Singleton, Jr.) Chromia (Jinny Chung) Injured Racer (Dillon Bryan)

Quotes

"Are you crazy?!"
"Sure feels like it!"

—D-16 and Orion Pax summing up their initial relationship.

"Uh, why is he gagged?"
"He wouldn't stop talking."
"Even when he was unconscious?"
"ESPECIALLY WHEN HE WAS UNCONSCIOUS!"

—Elita-1 asks Shockwave about B-127's restraints.

Soundwave: "What is our first move?"
Orion Pax: (quietly and intensely) "We roll out."
Skywarp: "...what?!"
Elita-1: (quietly) "Louder!"
Orion Pax: "TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"

—Orion realizes that dramatic one-liners aren't that dramatic if no one can hear them.

"What defines a Transformer is not the cog in its chest but the spark that resides in their core... a spark that gives you the will to make your world better, and that is something Sentinel can never take from us. If we want to be in control of our own destiny, we will have to fight for it. Now is the time for us to stand up. For ourselves. Stand up for this injustice! I promise you, this fight will be worth it. Follow me; nothing can stop us when we stand together! Together as one!"

—Orion Pax delivers his first heroic speech.

"It's over, Sentinel! You can't escape the truth!"
"What truth? That I plucked the cogs from your newborn chests? Forced you to mine so I could pay off the Quintessons and live like a king? None of that matters! Because the truth... is What. I. Make it!"

—Orion Pax learns Sentinel Prime won't go down without a fight.

"I'm done saving you."

—D-16 Megatron lets his former friend fall.

"Impossible... Primus gave you the Matrix?"
"We could have built the future together!"
"I'll build it myself, after I tear down everyone IN MY WAY!"

-Megatron and Optimus Prime set the stage for eons of conflict to come.

"We were given the power to change our world, and you chose to destroy it. Just like Sentinel. You have betrayed Cybertron and its citizens, and you betrayed... me. Go. Take the High Guard, and leave. You are... banished from Iacon. It didn't have to end this way."
"This isn't over, Prime."

—Optimus Prime and Megatron share one final exchange.

"This is the greatest day of my life... I get to work for the government!"

—B-127 knows a good benefits package when he sees one.

"And now we stand here together as one, proving we all have the the power to transform; to become who we were destined to be; to right wrongs; to make our world better. Because here, freedom and autonomy are the right of all sentient beings. Here, all are truly Autobots. This message is a warning to all Quintessons: If you dare return to Cybertron, the Autobots will be waiting. I will be waiting. I am... Optimus Prime."

—Optimus Prime gives his first dramatic ending monologue...

"Sentinel the betrayer is dead. But his death has given life to a new enemy...a stronger enemy... a personal enemy. We will not be blinded by his deception! We are the ones who are... DECEPTICONS! RISE UP!"

—...and Megatron gives the coming darkness its new name.

Continuity notes

The movie that would ultimately become Transformers One entered preliminary development in early 2015, when the project was first pitched as part of a writer's room that would lay out a number of sequels, prequels, and spinoff films that would turn the ongoing slate of live-action movies into a proper "cinematic universe", an attempt to cash in on the then-meteoric hype of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like pretty much all the other "cinematic universes" pitched at around this time, this ambitious vision was not to be: following the box-office bomb that was The Last Knight, most of these projects were shelved, while others were heavily reworked—perhaps most infamously, Bumblebee was reworked into a film that contradicted with the character's World War II flashbacks in The Last Knight, shifting the film into a more ambiguous timeframe with regards to the other five live-action films.

It appears that a similar conceptual drift occurred over the course of Transformers One's production. When the film entered full production in mid-2020, One was said to be "separate and apart" from the ongoing live-action films, though at the time just how distinct the film would be from its predecessors remained a mystery. When later asked if the film was a prequel to the live-action films, a reboot, or its own universe, director Josh Cooley answered "yes" to all of the above. While a few details and visual nods—such as Bumblebee's original name of "B-127"—referenced the live-action films, the film otherwise draws heavily upon the mythology first laid down in the "Aligned" continuity family, particularly in its depiction of Orion Pax and D-16 as former allies fighting against a corrupt Cybertronian government.

As the film's release date drew closer, multiple comments from the film's creatives indicated that the filmmakers viewed the movie as something entirely separate from the ongoing live-action films. In July, Josh Cooley stated that the film was set in a "new Transformers continuity" ; in another interview from a week before release, di Bonaventura ultimately admitted that One didn't fit into the chronology of the live-action films, and described One and the live-action films as "two universes" that would be "[kept] separate". These statements were ultimately borne out by the movie itself, which featured multiple plot points that are pretty much irreconcilable with the live-action films—early on, the film establishes that Megatronus is long dead, negating his appearance in Revenge of the Fallen; additionally, the movie ends with the newly christened Megatron killing Sentinel Prime, leaving no wiggle room for the events of Dark of the Moon to occur. As a result, the wiki has opted to treat the One franchise and any potential sequels as a new continuity family, entirely separate from the ongoing live-action films.

Transformers references

• As with pretty much every major Transformers project since 2010, Transformers One is the latest interpretation of the modernized Transformers backstory that originated with Hasbro's internal design documents and was first laid down in Transformers: Exodus—the story of Primus, the thirteen original Transformers, and the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron as former friends who fought against inequality on pre-war Cybertron until Megatron's extremism drove them apart. Notably, this version of the story portrays both Orion and Megatron as energon miners on the bottom of Cybertron's caste system—most other interpretations have instead depicted Orion as a somewhat higher-ranking data clerk. While other tellings of the story have Orion advocating for non-violent social change, this take on the origin ends with Orion Pax working alongside the future Decepticons to directly overthrow the reigning Prime, evoking IDW's Autocracy miniseries.
• Optimus Prime's original identity of "Orion Pax" is a name taken from the The Transformers episode "War Dawn". Notably, the cartoon's version of Orion Pax was also a manual laborer, although the film does seemingly pay homage to Orion Pax's other famous job by having him sneak into the Cybertronian Archives at the very beginning of the film.
• The 'bot who will one day be known as "Megatron" initially goes by the name "D-16", a moniker lifted from Exodus and itself based on the TakaraTomy ID number of the original G1 Megatron toy. D-16's original body—with a black, dome-shaped helmet and yellow eyes—references Megatron's Marvel Comics appearance, which in turn was based on concept art for an unproduced prototype version of the original Takara Micro Change figure.
• B-127 is heavily based live-action film series counterpart: his helmet design (with its large "cheeks" and movable "antennae") bears a resemblance to his appearance in that film; additionally, his overly-talkative nature is a meta-gag about his "future" self being best known for not being able to speak. While other characters shorten his name to "Bee", he's never once referred to as "Bumblebee"—likewise taking after the Bumblebee movie, where that version of B-127 only gained the familiar name after landing on Earth. B-127's battle mask resembles his Generation 1 counterpart's original toy; towards the end of the film, he fights with a pair of "knife hands" seemingly based on "Aligned" Bumblebee's melee weapons in the War for Cybertron video game.
• In general, Elita-1 doesn't draw upon as many specific references as her co-stars, although her purplish-pink color scheme and motorcycle alternate mode may be a reference to the live-action incarnation of the character. Notably, of the four main protagonists, Elita's the only one who doesn't have an alternate alias—especially odd given that her ""Generation 1" counterpart originally went by "Ariel" in the The Transformers episode "War Dawn".
• Sentinel Prime is based on Sentinel Zeta Prime, former leader of Cybertron in the "Aligned" continuity. Like that version of the character, this take on Sentinel Prime is explicitly a "false" Prime who never carried the Matrix of Leadership, and a puppet ruler who was appointed to the position by the Quintessons. Design-wise, this take on Sentinel combines his "Aligned" counterpart's blue and gold color scheme with the cape-like wing arrangement and double-sided blade from Dark of the Moon Sentinel Prime, while his battle mode is loosely inspired by Sentinel's Apex Armor from IDW Publishing's Megatron Origin comic. He also has details from his Titans Return toy and his Animated counterpart's glorious chin.
• Primus's design seen in the hologram Orion plays invokes his Cybertron appearance, even using a simplified version of his toy's transformation scheme, but with the origins of his Aligned counterpart. The color scheme is drawn from his Dreamwave look.
• The Thirteen, referred to only as the Primes in the film, are based on their Aligned counterparts for their backstory and designs. Vector, Solus, Alchemist, and Nexus Prime also draw from their Cybertron, Cyberverse, Prime Wars Trilogy, and Timelines designs, respectively. Megatronus Prime also has the Void Scepter from his Revenge of the Fallen design and a similar face to Tarn. Megatronus's face becoming the in-universe inspiration for the Decepticon symbol reflects the real life story of G1 Soundwave's face inspiring the iconic symbol.
• The mysterious Thirteenth Prime is replaced with Zeta Prime, who also takes Prima's role as leader and Matrix-bearer, though Prima himself is still present.
• Many contemporary works of pre-war Transformers fiction have established that pre-war Cybertronians organized themselves under a job-based caste system, with miners and other manual laborers occupying the lowest ranks of Transformer society. One features a very simplified version of this hierarchy, where Cybertronians without transformation cogs are an oppressed underclass while other Transformers receive additional rights and job opportunities.
• With the exception of D-16—whose origins as a low-ranking miner date back to IDW's Megatron Origin—all of the other miners shown in the film go on to join the Autobots, while the forerunners of the Decepticons are depicted as ex-members of the elite High Guard. This specific class divide dates back to the The Transformers episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" and, to a lesser extent, "War Dawn", which explained the war between the Autobots and Decepticons as an entrenched conflict between civilian laborers and military robots.
• The film's main theme, "Resting Place of the Primes", and "The Fall" includes a leitmotif from the main theme of Transformers: Prime, which was also composed by Brian Tyler.
• "The Fall" also plays a motif lifted from The Transformers: The Movie's "Death of Optimus Prime" in a different key. More specifically, the motif is from when Optimus Prime flatlines and dies. Fitting, as "The Fall" plays when Orion Pax is dropped into Cybertron's core and Optimus Prime is born.
• When discussing their min-1ing ability, Elita says Orion "[doesn't] have the touch or the power," a reference to the beloved song from The Transformers: The Movie.
• The Iacon 5000 derives from the Marvel UK The Transformers issue 326's "Darn 'n' Blast" letter page. Many of the racers in the Iacon 5000 are characters from G1 and Generation 2, with their colors and vehicle modes next to their names on the leaderboard, though they do not correspond to specific models except for the miners, Darkwing, and Chromia.
  • Racers based on their G1 counterparts include Mirage, Clampdown, Silverbolt, "Deadend", Slingshot, Cliffjumper, Dragstrip, Swerve, Powerglide, Jetstorm, Windblade, Afterburner, Blurr, Fireflight, Cordon, Breakdown, Swindle, Tailgate, Lightspeed, "Spinout", Greasepit, Scattorshot, Inferno, Motormaster, and "Hotrod".
  • Racers based on their G2 counterparts include Blowout, High Beam, Double Clutch, Meanstreak, Motormouth, Speedstream, "Roadrocket", Jolt, and Staxx.
  • Override and Tankor are based on their Cybertron and Beast Machines counterparts, respectively.
  • Racers that are only named through dialogue are Tailwind, Strafe (spelled "Streak" in one version of the English subtitles), Skyfire, and original characters Thunderglide and Behemoth. Phew!
• Elita-1 calls Orion, D-16 and B-127 a bunch of GoBots.
• The notion of the Matrix of Leadership actively rejecting an "unworthy" candidate and disintegrating was a plot point in Revenge of the Fallen. When Orion Pax does find the Matrix, it is hidden in the planet's core, evoking the climax of the War for Cybertron games.
• Megatron is the 'bot who shoots Orion and leaves him on the brink of death until he is resurrected as Optimus Prime in what is likely a reference to the The Transformers episode "War Dawn". However, the specific framing of the scene—in which Megatron shoots Orion and drops him into the depths of the planet, only for him to find the Matrix and return as Optimus—is, however coincidentially, nearly identical to the events of issue #9 of Autocracy.
• Alpha Trion's alternate mode being a leonine beast with a unicorn-esque horn is a direct homage to his Titans Return toy, itself based on his cancelled 2001 toy.
• The throne Starscream sits on is loosely based on the crown his Generation 1 counterpart wore during his coronation in The Transformers: The Movie.
• Starscream has a normal-sounding voice when he first appears, but after D-16 crushes his voice box during their duel, his voice becomes shriller and scratchier in the style of Chris Latta's portrayal of Starscream in the original G1 cartoon.
• Soundwave orders the High Guard to "eject" when descending on Sentinel's tower.
• During the battle in Sentinel Prime's tower, Orion leaps into the air and shoots one of the Death Trackers, with his midair pose homaging Optimus Prime's famous midair shooting pose from The Transformers: The Movie.
• Orion Pax jumps on top of Megatron's vehicle mode and rips off his tank barrel during their climactic duel, seemingly referencing the moment in The Transformers: The Movie where Kup does the same to Blitzwing.
• In the second post-credits scene, Megatron brands the Decepticon insignia onto his troops much like his Animated counterpart did in "A Bridge Too Close, Part I". Megatron also orders the Decepticons to "rise up", quoting his Animated counterpart who originated the phrase "transform and rise up" in "Megatron Rising - Part 2".
• Starscream's newly applied insignias are upside-down on his wings, just like his G1 cartoon version.
• While the newly christened Decepticons fire into the sky, the glow of the laser beams shines on Megatron's insignia in a way that homages the metallic effect of the original cartoon's Decepticon scene transition.
• Sentinel Prime's Death Trackers take heavy inspiration from Transformers: Prime's Vehicons, in both their design and their role as generic enemy troopers.
• Megatron disposes of Sentinel Prime in the same manner that his live-action counterpart killed Jazz—by bisecting the bot with his bare hands. Similarly, this is also how the Rainmakers disposed of Sentinel in the 2019 IDW continuity.
• The Matrix of Leadership causing Energon to flow and 'killing' the planet when lost calls back to the AllSpark.
• The fatal wounds Orion Pax sustained from D-16 before his descent into Cybertron's core strongly resemble the wounds Optimus Prime sustained at the end of Generation 1 episode, Dark Awakening
• When both Orion Pax and Sentinel Prime die, their bodies turn grey. Of course, Orion doesn't stay long as he's no stranger to dying nor coming back to life in a more powerful form.
• In the film's final scene, the newly-cogged Ironhide grows a segmented chest that resembles his appearance in Bumblebee, Arcee uses the pink visor that she used in both the original cartoon and Rise of the Beasts, and Jazz obtains a silver paintjob based on his appearance in the 2007 Transformers movie.

Real-life references

• One of B-127's "friends" is named A-A-Tron. Just don't mention the Glee club around him...

Errors

• One of the cogless miners in the opening mine scene is clearly meant to be Ratchet, with a black crest, red pelvis, and red pips on his shoulders. However, a later scene in Iacon's medical center has a voice on the intercom paging a "Medic Ratchet".
• Starscream's voice box no longer seems damaged during the final battle scene.

Music

A score album,Transformers One (Music from the Motion Picture), features the original music by composer Brian Tyler and was released concurrently with the film. It notably repurposes a leitmotif from his work on Transformers: Prime into this film's main theme. The composer, under his electronic side project "Are We Dreaming", also produced the end credits song, "If I Fall", featuring rappers Quavo (of Migos fame) and Ty Dolla $ign.

Development timeline

There can be miracles when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe

• March 27, 2015 — As part of the development of Transformers: The Last Knight, Paramount Pictures negotiates with Akiva Goldsman, hiring him to create a "writer's room" to build a cinematic universe. Among the writers hired are Ant-Man and the Wasp scribes Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, who pitch the concept of an animated Transformers prequel set in the live-action series universe.
• December 20, 2018 — Following the release of Bumblebee, Lorenzo di Bonaventura hints in an interview that the animated prequel is still in the works.
• April 29, 2020 — Director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) is reported to have been brought into the project to oversee a final draft, which is said to be "separate and apart" from the live-action films.
• May 18, 2021 — Allspark Pictures President Greg Mooradian credits the animated Transformers film on his Linkedin page with a 2023 release.
• May 24, 2021 — Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner confirms the animated feature is in development, and will be released at some point after Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
• January 21, 2022 — Paramount announces an untitled animated Transformers movie will be released on July 19, 2024.
• April 20, 2023 — di Bonaventura reveals that the entire film takes place on Cybertron, and the setting explores how they begin to question the hierarchy of how their society has gotten stratified, and how the common man doesn't have the voice that they want to have.
• April 21, 2023 — A day after the previous interview, di Bonaventura confirms Industrial Light & Magic's involvement as the film's animation studio, bringing the company back to the franchise for the first time since Bumblebee.
• April 27, 2023 — The first members of the film's voice cast are revealed, consisting of Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron, Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion.
• May 24, 2023 — Paramount moves the film's release date to September 13, 2024.
• June 7, 2023 — di Bonaventura teases how the film stands out from previous entries in the franchise, praises Chris Hemsworth's casting as Optimus Prime, and mentions a vocal transition from Hemsworth's voice to Peter Cullen's as the character for audiences to witness. Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman (Knock at the Cabin) were revealed to be additional writers for the film, but where uncredited when the final credit came in.
• June 15, 2023 — Scarlett Johansson discusses the film's animation and praises Cooley as director. Chris Hemsworth later brings details on voicing Optimus Prime for the film and his reasoning he joined the project through his love of the script. He confirms that he will not use his regular voice for the character.
• July 20, 2023 — di Bonaventura confirms Optimus Prime and Megatron in the film will be depicted under their Orion Pax and D-16 identities.
• December 15, 2023 — Keegan-Michael Key mentions his voice for Bumblebee is closer to his regular speaking voice.
• April 11, 2024 — The cast of the movie previews the trailer and reveals a new logo for the film at Cinemacon 2024, The Hollywood Reporter also confirms Steve Buscemi has joined the cast. During the presentation, Hemsworth revealed that Cullen served as a consultant on the getting the voice down.
• April 16, 2024 — Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry announce the date of the film's first trailer being on Thursday, April 18, 2024, as it will be launched into space.

So how do you judge what a man is worth?
By what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on Earth
Look through Heaven's eyes
Look at your life. Look at your life
Look at your life through Heaven's eyes

• April 18, 2024 — A livestream hosted by Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry follows a small craft launched towards space, with a screen that plays the trailer once it reaches 125,000 feet. The movie's release date has been pushed back by one week, to September 20, reportedly to avoid the release conflicting with that of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. When asked whether the film is a fresh start, a prequel to the live-action films, or its own thing, Cooley replies "yes to all of the above".
• May 20, 2024 — Brian Tyler is attached as the film's composer.
• June 7, 2024 — Production for the film is revealed to be finished in the following month.
• June 10, 2024 — A work-in-progress cut of the film was screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to a standing ovation.
• June 18, 2024 — Production designer Jason Scheier confirms animation for the film is finished.
• June 24, 2024 — Cooley discusses how the film is in the "Old Republic" of Cybertron. D-16's backstory is being changed from being a gladiator champion to an Energon miner who is bunkmates with Orion Pax.
• June 27, 2024 — Sound-mixing for the film is finished, with production finally now complete around three months in advance of release.
• July 9, 2024 — A panel for the film has been announced for San Diego Comic-Con 2024 on Thursday, July 25 at 11:45 am PST at Hall H.
• July 13, 2024 — Chris Hemsworth, Bryan Tyree Henry, and Keegan-Michael Key reveal a new clip of the main cast transforming for the first time at the Kids' Choice Awards 2024.
• July 23, 2024 — Cooley discusses how The Transformers: The Movie influenced One. A screening of the finished film was shown at a fan-event at Paramount Studios. Hemsworth talks about voicing Optimus Prime in the film and how his depiction stands out.
• July 24, 2024 — Several new posters are released, along with the announcement of a new trailer the following day at the SDCC panel.
• July 25, 202.4 — Details at the SDCC panel were revealed, along with the debut of the second trailer and Bucsemi's role announced to be Starscream. Eric Pearson was revealed to be an additional writer.
• August 21, 2024 — A new clip of Orion Pax and D-16 competing in the Iacon 5000 race is released on Paramount's YouTube channel.
• August 23, 2024 — Evan Michael Lee is revealed to be voicing Jazz.
• August 24, 2024 — Jon Bailey, Jason Konopisos-Alvarez, Isaac C. Singleton, Jr. and Vanessa Liguori are revealed to be voicing Soundwave, Shockwave, Darkwing and Airachnid respectively, with Bailey reprising his role from Bumblebee.
• September 6, 2024 — The film's credits song, 'If I Fall' by Quavo, is released.
• September 12, 2024 — In an interview, Lorenzo di Bonaventura clarifies that One doesn't directly connect to the live-action films, and describes them as "two universes" that will be "[kept] separate". However, he notes that One will likely have an influence on future live-action projects. The film's review embargo is also lifted, and the film debuts with an 89% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
• September 13, 2024 — The film's main theme is released.
• September 18, 2024 — An early fan event screening is held, preceded by a seven-minute featurette consisting of interview segments with Hemsworth, Henry, and Key, footage of main cast recording their dialogue, and some hilarious trivia. Attendees receive one of four exclusive keychains and poster prints featuring Orion Pax, D-16, B-127, or Elita-1.
• September 20, 2024 — The first 300 ticket holders at participating theaters receive a poster print of Shadow the Hedgehog to promote the upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Notes

• Several international releases of the film edit any mention of Bee's "knife hands" to refer to them as "sword hands" instead.
• The credits feature a dedication to former Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, who passed away in October 2021.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Transformers/One (トランスフォーマー/ONE Toransufōmā Wan)
• French: Transformers : Le Commencement (France, "Transformers: The Beginning"), Transformers : Un (Canada, "Transformers: One")
• Mandarin: Biànxíng Jīngāng: Qǐyuán (变形金刚：起源, "Transformers: The Beginning")
• Portuguese: Transformers: O Início ("Transformers: The Beginning")
• Korean: Transformer ONE (트랜스포머 ONE Teuraenseupomeo ONE)
• Russian: Transformery: Nachalo (Трансформеры: Начало, "Transformers: The Beginning")
• Spanish: Transformers One (Spain), Transformers : Uno (Latin America, "Transformers: One")