Transformers One - Release Date, Cast, Director And More Info

The "Transformers" movies took a pretty healthy break after the release of 2018's "Bumblebee," even if that wasn't originally the plan that Paramount Pictures had in mind. Regardless, thanks to the pandemic, that's exactly what happened. But with the release of "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" in 2023, the franchise is back with much more to come. Not only are we poised for more live-action movies but we're also getting a feature-length, theatrically-released animated film in the form of "Transformers One."

While the robots in disguise started out as toys, it was in no small part thanks to the '80s animated series, as well as 1986's "Transformers: The Movie" that helped make the Autobots and Decepticons staples of pop culture. So bringing it back around to animation feels like a full-circle moment, and one that may well excite fans who checked out during Michael Bay's later live-action entries. So what is this movie going to be about? When is it hitting theaters? Who is playing Optimus Prime? We're here to give you all of that information and much more. Let's dive in.

"Transformers One" is currently set to be released by Paramount Pictures in theaters on September 13, 2024. As is the case with most of the studio's major releases at this point, the movie will be exclusively in theaters at first. It will then likely have a window on VOD before eventually making its way to Paramount+. But those wanting to see it first will need to make the trip to a theater.

Paramount has not released an official plot synopsis for "Transformers One" just yet. However, longtime franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has previously spoken about the film and revealed it's going to be an origin story. The film will focus on Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early days before they were sworn enemies:

"If you know the origin, they started as friends, and over time things devolved for them and they ended up on two sides. So we're telling the young Optimus and the young Megatron story. We really are telling the origin story of all Transformers, both what they were at the beginning of it, to how they grow, to how they grow apart."

Elaborating further, di Bonaventura explained that the film will largely take place on the Transformers homeworld of Cybertron, which has only briefly been featured in the live-ation films up to this point (including a short sequence in "Bumblebee"):

"You're going to see Cybertron in a way you've never seen it, that no one's ever seen it before. Because we're doing an animation, we're allowed to really go all out. If you tried to make this live-action, it would probably be a billion-dollar movie or something."

The cast for the film is, in a word, stacked, and includes quite a few A-list actors. Chris Hemsworth ("Thor," "Extraction") leads the cast as Optimus Prime, with Brian Tyree Henry ("Eternals," "Bullet Train") on board as Megatron. The ensemble also includes Keegan-Michael Key ("The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Toy Story 4") as Bumblebee, Scarlett Johansson ("Black Widow," "Asteroid City") as Alita, Jon Hamm ("Mad Men," "Tag") as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne ("Man of Steel," "The Matrix") as Alpha Trion. This does mean that longtime voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, won't be reprising his role, and it appears Paramount is leaning into big-name stars rather than established voice actors.

Josh Cooley is in the director's chair for "Transformers One." Cooley is best known as the director of "Toy Story 4," which went on to become a $1 billion hit at the box office. That being the case, he seemed like a great fit for a multi-billion-dollar franchise. Cooley has spent much of his career at Pixar, working on several shorts and co-writing "Inside Out."

Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari ("No Exit," "Die in a Gunfight") penned the screenplay for "Transformers One" alongside Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman ("Knock at the Cabin"). Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Mark Vahradian, Aaron Dem, and Michael Bay (who's directed five live-action "Transformers" films to date) are on board as producers. Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer and Valerii An serve as executive producers.

As of this writing, no trailer has been released for "Transformers One" but we should probably expect to see one in early 2024, given its fall release date.

An official rating for the film has not been revealed as of yet, though it will very likely be rated PG-13 like most of the theatrically released "Transformers" films before it.