Steven Caple Jr. & Lorenzo Di Bonaventura Unveil Title For Seventh ‘Transformers’ Film, Tease New Character & Story Details

On Tuesday, Paramount put on a virtual showcase teasing the seventh Transformers film, which recently entered production, and revealed its title: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

The centerpiece of the event was a panel, moderated by Vanity Fair’s Anthony Breznican. Panelists included director Steven Caple Jr., franchise producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, as well as Rise of the Beasts‘ stars, Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, who offered new details, with regard to the upcoming actioner’s story and characters.

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The new Transformers film will be set in 1994. While its central characters are based in Brooklyn, the feature will move between New York and Machu Pichu.

Our main hero, on the side of the Transformers, will once again be Optimus Prime. But Rise of the Beasts will also look to expand the big-screen world of Transformers, beyond the familiar, presenting a clash between different tribes of alien robots. One of those breeds, referenced in the titled, is known as Beast Wars. “In their disguise they [take on] animal form,” said Caple. “So…in our film, they’re these prehistoric animals that travel through time and space, and we find them here on Earth.”

In the upcoming film, we’ll see the Beast War robots go to war with their natural enemies, the Predacons. The Terracons will present another “new threat”; saving the world will be left up to the Autobots and the Maximals.

“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,” said Caple. “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 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.”

For their part, Ramos and Dominique offered up new details 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 Noah is a military vet who lives in Brooklyn with his family, serving as a father figure, of sorts, for his brother. “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 In the Heights star added that Noah is “amazing with electronics.”

“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,” the actor continued. “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.”

During Paramount’s virtual event, Caple and Di Bonaventura also touched on a wide range of Transformers appearing in the film, sharing early designs for Mirage, Arcee, Nightbird, Air Razor, Rhinox, Optimus Primal, the “ruthless and scary” Terracon leader known as Scourge, and a new “off-road” Camaro version of Bumblebee.

Paramount Pictures is set to release Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on June 24, 2022. Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters wrote the script for Paramount, eOne and Hasbro, based off of an earlier draft by Joby Harold. Skydance is co-financing and executive producing. New Republic Pictures is also a co-financing partner. Since its launch in 2007, Transformers has proven to be a lucrative and enduring franchise, grossing more than $4 billion worldwide.

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