Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Director Already in Talks to Direct a Sequel

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts arrived in theaters this weekend with a great performance at the box office, earning over $170 worldwide in its opening frame and putting the franchise back on track. The film has received mixed reviews from critics but was met with positive marks from audience members. That, combined with the box office opening, appears to have set up director Steven Caple Jr. with a future in the franchise. 

According to Deadline, who recently hosted the filmmaker on the Crew Call podcast, Caple Jr. is in talks with Paramount for a second Transformers movie, following the events of Rise of the Beasts. Of course, that next movie will likely be connected to the major final scene tease in the new film, that set up a major crossover adventure as the franchise’s next direction. WARNING: This article contains Transformers: Rise of the Beasts spoilers from here on out…

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Sequel

The final scene of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts sees Anthony Ramos’ Noah Diaz approached by a mysterious character played by Michael Kelly, who invites him to become a part of a secret organization called GI Joe. This puts the beloved GI Joe franchise in the same world as Transformers, establishing a crossover story in the immediate future. Caple Jr. spoke with Deadline about his ideas for what the next film will do to incorporate both sets of characters.

“I have some ideas for how to branch out that part of the Hasbro franchise,” the director said. “I can do this crossover that I plan on doing, there’s a way to feed the fans what we want in transformers films but also do something cool with another legendary IP that I’ve always been in love with since I was a kid. There’s parts of it, and characters, that we’ve never used before.”

Transformers and GI Joe Crossover Coming Soon?

Caple also spoke with about his big GI Joe tease at the end of Rise of the Beasts. inspired by the crossover comic book, the filmmaker wants to use lesser-known GI Joes to bring the franchise back into the spotlight. Transformers and the Noah Diaz character can help do that.

“Yeah, it was figuring out a way to use the G.I. Joe technology because they’re known for their tech. I was like, ‘Maybe we don’t have to go through the classic characters like Snake Eyes and Duke and all these other characters. Maybe there’s a way we can use other characters that haven’t been utilized as much.’ There’s different series and editions and different factions of G.I. Joe as well,” Caple Jr. said. “There’s G.I. Joe: Renegades and different branches of it, too. So I started to play with that, and I pitched versions of it to the studio and the producers. I pitched a direction I wanted to go in and ways to branch out the universe in general. Transformers movies have scope and size, but we’ve been spending a lot of time here on Earth, so I just think there’s more out there. Even in the graphic novels for Transformers, there’s other planets and things like that, and I was like, ‘We’re just thinking too small.’ So, if we’re going to do movie number eight and nine and ten, maybe there’s a way to make this all more expansive and branch out.”

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which premieres on June 9th, is the seventh movie in the live-action Transformers franchise. Inspired by the fan-favorite reboot of the series, the iconic Beast Wars, the movie is a globetrotting adventure set in the 1990s complete with an era-specific soundtrack. Peter Cullen returns to voice Optimus Prime in the new movie, appearing alongside other Autobots and Decepticons including Bumblebee and Pete Davidson as Mirage. Other factions from the Transformers franchise like the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons will also appear, with Ron Perlman set to voice the gorilla-inspired Optimus Primal. Directed by Creed II‘s Steven Caple Jr. the film stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback on the human side with Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh voicing the Maximal Airazor.