Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Wraps With New Look at Optimus Prime

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts rolls out a new behind-the-scenes look at Optimus Prime as filming wraps on the franchise’s followup to Bumblebee. Shifting to the Beast Wars storyline with rising stars Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) and Dominique Fisher (Judas and the Black Messiah) behind the wheel, Rise of the Beasts brings the action to 1994 New York. When the war between the Maximals, the Predacons, and the Terrorcons comes to our planet, Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) of the Autobot resistance arrives on Earth and learns to become a leader.

“I want to discover more about Optimus Prime, get underneath the surface — get underneath the metal, if you would — and explore who he is and his experience on Earth,” director Steven Caple Jr. said when announcing Rise of the Beasts. Take a look at the wrap photo below. 

Caple previously revealed a look at Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, Scourge, and Nightbird. Franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said Beasts, “a spectacle story … in the tradition of the [Michael] Bay films,” would “give the audience a lot of ‘new.’” 

“We have exhausted, I would say, the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons,” Di Bonaventura said over the summer of the upcoming seventh installment of the live-action movie franchise. “Saving the world is left to the Autobots, and in this case, the Maximals. If you’ve seen the other movies, you’re going to see villains you’ve never seen before and a lot of elements we’ve never done before.”

For the sequel to the Travis Knight directed Bumblebee, “We wanted to expand the universe,” said Caple, who previously directed Creed II. “You have the Autobots and the Decepticons, and I would say my new flair to this is the Terracons. The Terracons are a new threat to Optimus Prime, and it’s something I pride myself on when entering the franchise. I’ve done Rocky with Creed, and you bring the nostalgia that fans want, but also bring something they aren’t expecting, and the Terracons are that.”

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is scheduled to roll out on June 24, 2022, from Paramount Pictures.