Following our trip back to 1987 for Bumblebee, the Transformers film series is jumping to 1994 for its next installment, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The premise of the seventh Transformers movie was revealed back in June, and originally the plan was to deliver the final product to the masses on June 24, 2022. However, it’s been announced that Rise of the Beasts has been pushed back a year.
Instead, our reunion with the robots in disguise won’t happen until June 9, 2023, where it will open opposite an untitled Universal event movie. No specific reason was provided for why Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now slated for 2023, but it takes the release slot that previously belonged to the Star Trek movie being directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman. Paramount Pictures has now pushed that sci-fi project to December 22, 2023, the same day that Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron is set to open, although given that its production was recently delayed, it’s logical to assume Disney won’t be keeping the next Star Wars movie there.
So now there will be an approximately four and a half year-long gap between Bumblebee’s release and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ arrival. As noted by THR, these date changes come as Paramount new CEO Brian Robbins takes charge. Of course, Rise of the Beasts is far from the only movie to be delayed by a year, especially during the pandemic era. Whatever the reason for the date change, at least Transformers fans can take comfort knowing it’ll still be a summer blockbuster, just a year later than expected.
Directed by Creed II’s Steven Caple Jr. off a script written by Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will introduce the Beast Wars mythology to the film franchise. As previously mentioned, the story will take place seven years after the events of Bumblebee, but rather than reunite with Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson, the main human protagonists will instead be Anthony Ramos’ Noah, who’s an ex-military electronics expert living with his family in Brooklyn, and Dominique Fishback’s Elena, who works at a museum as an artifacts researcher. Naturally the presence of giant robots that can change their appearance will throw Noah and Elena’s lives into chaos.
Speaking of which, although Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will bring back Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, we’re not getting another traditional Autobots vs. Decepticons conflict. Instead, the villains this time around will be the Predacons and Terrorcons, with members of the latter group including Scourge, Nightbird and Battletrap. Luckily, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee won’t have to face these threats alone, because along with fellow Autobots Mirage, Arcee and Wheeljack accompanying them, we’ll also meet the Maximals in Rise of the Beasts, with Rhinox, Airazor and Cheetor being led by Rom Perlman’s Optimus Primal.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts kicked off principal photography in early June and wrapped towards the end of October. While we wait for more specific details about the delayed Transformers movie, find out what movies are still set to come out next year by reading through our 2022 release schedule.
