It was during last year's CinemaCon when we first heard of plans for Transformers One, an animated prequel revolving around Orion Pax and D-16 and how went from brothers-in-arms to become sworn enemies, Optimus Prime and Megatron.
Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry will lead the cast as the iconic friends-turned-enemies and Scarlett Johansson has also boarded the project. During Paramount's CinemaCon presentation yesterday evening, an extended trailer was shown which pulled back the curtain on this movie.
Hemsworth told those in attendance that audiences "will experience something truly spectacular" with the story of Orion Pax, adding that Transformers One is going to "reveal a side of this character that audiences haven’t seen before." He also paid tribute to the legendary Peter Cullen, Prime's original voice actor.
Johansson is Elita-1 with Keegan-Michael Key as B-127, and Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm rounding out the impressive cast.
Here's a description of the trailer courtesy of our friends at IGN:
The extended 3D scene features lowly worker 'bots Orion Pax, D-16, and B-127 sneaking aboard a supply train operated by Elita-1, which is on its way to the surface world - a place the three young stowaways have never been before.
After an initial scuffle with Elita-1, who wants them off the train so she won’t get demoted (again), Orion tells her they’re on a mission to the surface world to attain the Matrix of Leadership. This will allow them to earn the ability to transform and realize their full potential. During their ride aboveground, the surface of Cybertron itself transforms, with giant shafts of rock erupting from the ground and into the sky.
Additional footage showed the four 'bots attaining their powers and transforming into vehicles for the first time to comedic effect. Think of a youthful superhero such as Spider-Man awkwardly experimenting with their newfound abilities for the first time.
It sounds like this will be a family-friendly adventure more akin to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem than the live-action franchise revolving around the iconic Autobots and Decepticons. We've yet to see the animation style for ourselves, but it is said to be pretty unique.
Toy Story 4's Josh Cooley is directing the film from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is executive producing Transformers One alongside Brian Goldner, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer, and Valerii An.
Transformers One is set to be released in theaters on September 13, 2024.