“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is the seventh installment of the “Transformers” franchise and a standalone sequel to “Bumblebee”.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the film.
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a 2023 American science fiction action film
- It is based on Hasbro’s Transformers toy line
- It is primarily influenced by the Beast Wars storyline
- The film is the seventh installment in the Transformers live-action film series
- Serving as a standalone sequel to Bumblebee (2018)
- It is also a prequel to Transformers (2007)
- The film was directed by Steven Caple Jr.
- From a screenplay by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber
- It stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback
- As well as the voice talents of Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Liza Koshy, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Pete Davidson, Colman Domingo, Cristo Fernández, Tongayi Chirisa, and returning franchise regulars Peter Cullen, John DiMaggio, and David Sobolov
- Following the critical and commercial success of Bumblebee, Paramount Pictures and Hasbro announced a sequel in early 2019
- In November 2020, Caple was hired as director for the film
- By 2021, Ramos and Fishback were cast in the lead human roles, and details for the film were revealed that summer in a virtual event held by Paramount
- Michael Bay, who directed the first five live-action Transformers films and produced Bumblebee, once again serves as producer
- 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 had its premiere at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on May 27, 2023
- It was theatrically released in the United States on June 9, 2023, by Paramount Pictures
- The film received mixed reviews from critics
- Critics praised its action sequences and improvements over its four pre-Bumblebee installments
- Though criticism was aimed at its climax
- 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)
- 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 standalone and that “Ultimately, all you need to know is that they’re trying to get back to Cybertron”
- In April 2021, Anthony Ramos was cast for the lead role in the film.[45] Later that month, Dominique Fishback was cast opposite Ramos.[46] It was also revealed that Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters had been hired to rewrite Harold’s screenplay.[46] Ultimately, Harold, Metayer, Peters, along with Erich and Jon Hoeber received screenplay credit, with Harold solely receiving story credit, while Ken Nolan, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, and Vanderbilt received “additional literary material” credit off-screen.[47]
- In June, actress Lauren Vélez revealed that she has a role in the sequel
- In the same month, Peter Cullen was confirmed to return as Optimus Prime for the film
- Ron Perlman was announced to be reprising his role as Optimus Primal from the Power of the Primes web series a week later
- In July, rapper Tobe Nwigwe revealed that he had a role in the film, making his film debut
- In October 2022, Caple Jr. revealed that Michelle Yeoh and Pete Davidson will voice Airazor and Mirage, respectively, in the film
- On December 1, 2022, additional members of the voice cast were announced, consisting of Peter Dinklage as the film’s antagonist Scourge, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as the female Terrorcon Nightbird, Liza Koshy as Arcee
- Koshy replaced voice actress Grey DeLisle from both Bumblebee and Revenge of the Fallen
- Cristo Fernández as Wheeljack and voice actors John DiMaggio and David Sobolov from previous installments in dual roles for each actor
- DiMaggio voices both Stratosphere, an Autobot that originated from the toyline of Revenge of the Fallen and the Dark of the Moon video game from 2009 to 2011, and Transit, a Terrorcon that turns into a transit bus
- While Sobolov, being the sole cast member from the Beast Wars animated series, voices both the Maximal Rhinox and the Terrorcon Battletrap
- Caple revealed more members of the voice cast would be revealed in the coming months and expressed interest to bring Mahershala Ali to provide voice work
- On April 6, 2023, two months before the film’s release, Tongayi Chirisa was announced to be voicing the Maximal Cheetor
- Cheetor’s original voice actor, Ian James Corlett expressed his support to Chirisa in the role later in that same month
- On April 27, 2023, after the release of the second trailer, Colman Domingo was announced to be voicing Unicron
- In the United States and Canada, the film is projected to gross between $50 to 60 million from 3,673 theaters in its opening weekend
- The film made $8.8 million from Wednesday and Thursday night preview screenings
- This marks an improvement from the totals of The Last Knight ($5.5 million in 2017) and Bumblebee ($2.85 million in 2018)
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 53% rating
- Based on 150 critics’ reviews
- With an average rating of 5.1/10
- The website’s consensus reads: “Thanks to some genuine human drama between the set pieces and palpable affection for the title characters, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is one of the franchise’s more enjoyable outings”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100
- Based on 45 critics
- Indicating “mixed or average reviews”
- Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts received a nomination for Best Summer 2023 Blockbuster Trailer at the 2023 Golden Trailer Awards
- In February 2022, Paramount announced that Rise of the Beasts would be the first of three new installments in the Transformers series
- In May 2023, it was also announced Paramount was also planning a crossover between the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises
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