Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts Wraps Filming, Reveals New Look At Classic Optimus Prime

You didn't think they'd stop making "Transformers" movies anytime soon, did you? It's true, 2017's "Transformers: The Last Knight" and 2018's "Bumblebee" ended up becoming two of the lowest grossing films in the entire franchise since Michael Bay first kicked things off in 2007, sending up a red flag that perhaps audiences have finally grown tired of these movies. With that said, "Bumblebee" still achieved a respectable $460 million-plus worldwide on a much lower budget than previous "Transformer" entries and, with the help of new lead Hailee Steinfeld, radically changed tones from Bay's testosterone-infused mayhem. Clearly there's still an audience out there for these movies ... or so Paramount hopes, at least.

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" will be the latest sequel to put that theory to the test, now that it has just completed filming and will enter post-production ahead of its anticipated 2022 release.

"Rise of the Beasts" director Steven Caple Jr. announced the completion of filming with an Instagram post yesterday, featuring an image of the "Creed II" director in the driver's seat of a very familiar-looking truck. Of course, "Bumblebee" delighted nostalgic fans everywhere when it opened with the epic Cybertron-based battle sequence in the prologue, putting the original throwback "Transformers" designs front-and-center. This was a very welcome change from the incomprehensible look in all the Bay movies, and "Rise of the Beasts" seems intent on maintaining this new aesthetic with this newest look at Optimus Prime's Generation-1 truck design. You can check out Caple Jr.'s full post at the very bottom of this article.

Caple Jr.'s enthusiasm for this project has been apparent from the beginning, frequently using social media to give fans a look at what's in store for them with "Rise of the Beasts." So far, we know that this film will be a direct sequel to "Bumblebee" set in 1994 (Caple Jr. has previously said that he's taking inspiration from "Terminator 2" for this movie) and that the usual conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons will be further complicated by the arrival of Terrorcons and Maximals. You know what that means: as the title of the film hints at, fans can prepare themselves for the Beast Wars. 

With Peter Cullen returning to voice Optimus Prime once more, the rest of the cast includes Ron Perlman as the voice of Optimus Primal and Anthony Ramos And Dominique Fishback as the two new human leads. "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is currently scheduled for release on June 4, 2022.