New Transformers Movie To Reportedly Star Anthony Ramos In Lead Role

The new Transformers movie from director Steven Caple Jr. has found its lead actor, in the form of Anthony Ramos. According to reports, Ramos is in “final negotiations” to star in Paramount and Hasbro’s previously announced new addition to the Transformers movie franchise – which is just one of two new Transformers films the studios is currently developing. The other film is a Transformers movie by Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings), which was just announced last week. Caple’s film will be based on the script by Joby Harold, which was in a staunch competition with a different script by James Vanderbilt.

As Deadline reports, Anthony Ramos (best known for his role in Hamilton) has been Caple’s top choice since taking the Transformers director’s chair. Ramos will now reportedly do screen and chemistry tests to determine the female lead of the movie; Kiki Layne (Coming 2 America, The Old Guard) and Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah, Project Power) are mentioned as two frontrunners for that role. That certainly fits with rumors last month that Paramount and Hasbro want a “Tessa Thompson type” for Caple’s Transformers flick.

Ramos will be headling the film that is part of the same universe as Travis Knight’s moderately successful franchise reboot, Bumblebee while moving the timeline forward from 1987 to the 1990s. Soto’s film will be set in fan-favorite Transformers: Beast Wars universe.

Transformers has seen its share of ups and downs as a movie franchise since the 2000s. At one point the franchise was bringing in over a billion at the box office with each entry, hitting a high with Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, which brought in $352 million domestically and over $1.1 billion worldwide. Transformers: Age of Extinction showed the first signs of decline, with domestic earnings falling to $245M (though international audiences still pushed the film to $1.1B). The next installment, Transformers: The Last Knight was a big bust, only earning $130M domestically and only $605M worldwide. After that, the franchise was taken out of the hands of Michael Bay and given a scaled-down continuity reboot with Bumblebee. That film flew somewhat under the radar in 2018, earning $127M domestically and $467M internationally; however, the overwhelming critical praise led to strong word-of-mouth for home video and streaming. If nothing else, Bumblebee proved audiences are still into seeing Transformers on the big screen.

This new Transformers movie is. expected to hit theaters in June 24, 2022.