Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Film

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a 2023 American science fiction action film based on Hasbro’s Transformers toy line, and primarily influenced by its Beast Wars sub-franchise. It is the seventh installment in the Transformers film series and serves as both a standalone sequel to Bumblebee (2018) and a prequel to Transformers (2007). The film is directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber. Michael Bay again serves as producer. It stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, as well as the voice talents of Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson, Liza Koshy, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Colman Domingo, Cristo Fernández, Tongayi Chirisa, and returning franchise regulars Peter Cullen, John DiMaggio, and David Sobolov. Set in 1994, the film follows ex-military electronics expert Noah Diaz and artifact researcher Elena Wallace as they help the Autobots and the Maximals protect an artifact known as the Transwarp Key from the villainous Terrorcons. Principal photography took place from June to October 2021, with filming locations including Los Angeles, Peru, Montreal, and New York City.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts premiered at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on May 27, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 9, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $439 million worldwide against a production budget of $195–200 million; making the film a financial disappointment and the lowest-grossing installment in the franchise.

Two sequels are in development, while an animated prequel set on Cybertron, Transformers One, is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2024.

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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Film

STORY

The planet-eating Unicron attacks the homeworld of the Maximals, an advanced race of Transformers. The Terrorcons, Unicron’s heralds led by Scourge, want the Transwarp Key which can open portals through space and time and can help Unicron consume planets faster. The Maximal leader Apelinq sacrifices himself to allow the other Maximals to escape the planet before Unicron devours it. Now under the command of Optimus Primal, the Maximals flee to Earth with the key.

In 1994 Brooklyn, Noah Diaz, an ex-military electronics expert, struggles to find a job to support his ill brother Kris and is convinced by his friend Reek to steal a Porsche to sell only to discover that it is the Autobot Mirage in disguise. Concurrently, museum intern Elena Wallace studies an ancient statue of a falcon bearing the Maximal symbol and accidentally breaks it open to reveal the key hidden inside. The key releases an energy pulse detected by Autobot leader Optimus Prime, who summons the other Autobots, including Arcee and Bumblebee. Mirage is contacted in the middle of Noah’s attempted theft, and he is roped into the Autobots’ mission to recover the key so they can use it to return to their homeworld, Cybertron.

Drawn by the key’s signature, the Terrorcons arrive on Earth and attack the Autobots outside the museum, with Elena becoming caught up in the conflict. Scourge kills Bumblebee, steals the key, and retreats when the Maximal Airazor arrives. Airazor reveals that the Maximals have been hiding on Earth for millennia, and Scourge only has half of the Transwarp Key, which was split in two to keep it away from Unicron. Optimus insists that the key be reassembled so the Autobots can use it to return home, while Noah secretly plots to destroy the key to keep Earth safe.

Elena deduces that the other half of the key is in a hidden temple in Peru. The cargo plane Autobot, Stratosphere takes them to Peru, where they meet with Wheeljack, who leads them to the temple. However, the other half of the key is revealed to no longer be there. The Terrorcons attack again, and Scourge corrupts Airazor with Unicron’s dark energy. Subsequently, the Autobots meet Optimus Primal and the other Maximals, who entrusted the second half of the key to a human tribe they have worked with for millennia. Scourge’s corruption overtakes Airazor, whom Primal reluctantly kills at her request to save Elena. In the chaos, Noah attempts to destroy the second half of the key, but Optimus convinces him otherwise. Scourge steals it and then reassembles the two halves, erecting a tower and opening a portal above the Earth, which Unicron will soon go through.

Optimus and Noah agree to work together to protect their homeworlds from Unicron. While Autobots and Maximals battle the Terrorcon army, Noah and Elena sneak in close to the Key, planning to deactivate it with an access code Elena has uncovered. During the battle, Scourge wounds Mirage, who was protecting Noah, but transforms his damaged body into a powered exo-suit for Noah so they can fight together. Bumblebee is reactivated when the key activates the Energon-infused valley. He helps the Autobots and Maximals turn the tide of the battle. Optimus kills Scourge, but not before the latter damages the control console to prevent the portal from being shut down. Optimus destroys the key and collapses the portal, willing to sacrifice himself, but Noah and Primal save him from being sucked into the imploding vortex, which destroys the remaining Terrorcon army and leaves Unicron stranded.

In the aftermath, the Autobots, unable to return to Cybertron, proclaim Earth as their new home and vow to continue protecting it alongside the Maximals. Elena receives recognition for discovering the temple in Peru while Noah attends an interview for a security job but finds he is actually being invited to join the secret military organization G.I. Joe, who will cover Kris’s healthcare.

In a mid-credits scene, Noah repairs Mirage using junk Porsche parts from Reek who claims it is unroad-worthy, and Noah disproves him by calling to Mirage to transform in front of Reek.

CAST

• Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz, an ex-military electronics expert who lives with his family in Brooklyn, trying to support them.
• Dominique Fishback as Elena Wallace, an artifact researcher and intern at a museum.
• Luna Lauren Vélez as Breanna Diaz, Noah’s mother.
• Dean Scott Vazquez as Kris Diaz, Noah’s younger brother who suffers from sickle cell disease.
• Tobe Nwigwe as Reek, Noah’s friend who talks him into grand theft auto. The character was based on a mutual best friend of Caple’s, who died prior to filming in 2021.
• Sarah Stiles as Jillian Robinson: Elena’s boss at the museum who keeps taking credit for her work.
• Leni Parker as Ms. Greene, a hospital administrator that questions Noah about the payment for Kris’ appointment.
• Aidan Devine as Bishop, a security chief who cancels a job interview with Noah due to having talked with Noah’s former commanding officer.
• Lucas Huarancca as Amaru. the descendant of a tribe that helped the Maximals for hundreds of years.
• Michael Kelly as Agent Burke: an undercover recruiter for G.I. Joe.
• Lesley Stahl as herself, she appears on 60 Minutes interviewing Elena about the underground ruins she discovered.
• Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobot resistance who transforms into a red 1987 Freightliner FLA semi truck. Caple revealed on Instagram that Optimus Prime’s unmasked face in the film was designed after Cullen himself.
• Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals who transforms into a western lowland gorilla. The character’s beast mode in the film was based on unused concept art that was illustrated for an inclusion in the 2017 film, Transformers: The Last Knight.
• Peter Dinklage as Scourge, the leader of the Terrorcons and a trophy hunter who transforms into a black Peterbilt 359 logging semi truck.
• Michelle Yeoh as Airazor: A Maximal warrior who transforms into a peregrine falcon.
• Pete Davidson as Mirage, an Autobot spy who can project holograms and transforms into a silver-blue Porsche 964 Carrera RS 3.8, and briefly, into a Formula One car, a Lamborghini Countach, a garbage truck, and an exo-suit. Davidson described voicing Mirage as “Jim Carrey’s The Mask meets Bugs Bunny”, due to his rebellious personality.
• Liza Koshy as Arcee, an Autobot sharpshooter who transforms into a red-white Ducati 916 motorcycle.
• John DiMaggio as Stratosphere, an Autobot Air-Soldier who transforms into a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane, that provides transportation for the Autobots in their global adventure.
• David Sobolov as:
  • Rhinox, a Maximal commando who transforms into a white rhinoceros.
  • Battletrap, a Terrorcon enforcer who transforms into an orange 1980s GMC TopKick C7000 tow truck.
  • Apelinq, the previous Maximal leader who transforms into a mountain gorilla and sports retractable blades on his arms.
• Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Nightbird: A Terrorcon ninja who transforms into a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33.
• Colman Domingo as Unicron, a world-devouring planet-sized Transformer who serves as the Terrorcons’ master. This marks the character’s first proper live-action depiction after previously being teased in The Last Knight.
• Cristo Fernández as Wheeljack, an Autobot scientist and mechanic who transforms into a brown and white 1970s Volkswagen Type 2 panel bus, while speaking in a Mexican accent.
• Tongayi Chirisa as Cheetor, a Maximal scout who transforms into a cheetah.

PRODUCTION

Development

In December 2018, when asked about the future of the Transformers franchise, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura stated that another big Transformers film “would be produced” and that it would be “different than the ones that we’ve done before.” He described the process as more of an “evolution,” saying that there is more freedom to create and what they can do with it. After the success of Bumblebee that year, he said that the series would make some changes in tone and style, inspired by the film. Bumblebee director Travis Knight said his goal was to return to his animation studio, Laika, though he acknowledged that he has a few ideas for a sequel. John Cena expressed interest in reprising his role in a sequel. Writer Christina Hodson said that “[she] knows where [she wants] to go with the next one”. In late January 2019, a sequel was announced. In March, di Bonaventura confirmed they were developing a script for a Bumblebee sequel.

In January 2020, Paramount Pictures was reportedly working on two different Transformers films, one written by James Vanderbilt and another written by Joby Harold. In November, Steven Caple Jr. was hired to direct Harold’s script. In February 2021, it was revealed that the film was going under the working title Transformers: Beast Alliance, hinting the introduction of characters from the Beast Wars franchise. During a virtual event held by Paramount in June, di Bonaventura and Caple revealed the official title as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (revealing to be both a Bumblebee sequel and Beast Wars film in one), and confirming that it would feature the Maximals, the Predacons, and a new take on the Terrorcons faction. The film’s tone and action were heavily influenced by Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Despite the announcement of the Predacons, no such member appeared in the finished film.

In an April 2023 interview, Di Bonaventura stated that the film’s story will have a character arc for Optimus Prime prior to the 2007 film, akin to Bumblebee in his self-titled film. In May, Caple said that the events of the 2007 film will be preserved, but also that the story would be standalone and that “Ultimately, all you need to know is that they’re trying to get back to Cybertron.” Michael Bay again serves as producer, along with the same producers as the previous film. Duncan Henderson joined as producer, in what would be his final film before his death from pancreatic cancer.

RELEASE

June 9, 2023