New Transformers Animated Movie Is In The Works

A new animated Transformers movie is officially in the works.

Hasbro executives confirmed the previously rumored news during an investor call. Boulder Media Studio, which is owned by Hasbro, will be developing the film. The studio is also developing films based on My Little Pony and Stretch Armstrong.

The new film will be just the first in a series of animated features. Hasbro hopes to see a new animated Transformers movie arrive in theaters every year, though they did not say when the first movie will be ready for release. The film will be distributed by paramount Pictures via Allspark Pictures.

The animated Transformers feature will be set in the same universe as Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. The Hasbro executives hinted that the first movie may tell the origin story of the Autobots and the Decepticons.

The live-action Transformers movie universe so far consists of five movies directed by Michael Bay: Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction, and The Last Knight. The franchise’s first live-action spinoff movie will debut in 2018, a Bumblebee prequel movie set in the 1980s and starring John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld. The film began production on July 31.

An animated Transformers movie was previously released in theaters in 1986. Transformers: The Movie used characters from the original Transformers animated series and altered the status quo by killing Optimus Prime and allowing Hot Rod to take over as the leader of the Autobots.

Transformers: The Last Knight, Bay’s final film with the franchise, hasn’t seen the same box office success as its predecessors, perhaps prompting Paramount and Hasbro to try to shake the franchise up a bit.

In Transformers: The Last Knight, humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Now, it’s up to the unlikely alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock) to save the world.

Transformers: The Last Knight is directed by Michael Bay. The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci reprising their roles from Transformers: Age of Extinction, with Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro reprising roles from the first three Transformers movies.

Transformers: The Last Knight’s voice cast includes Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, John Goodman as Hound, and John DiMaggio as Crosshairs. Other transformers appearing the film include Bumblebee, Drift, Hot Rod, Cogman, Canopy, Sqweeks, Grimlock, Megatron, Barricade, Onslaught, Hooligan, and Mohawk.

via Transformers World