There’s more than meets the eye at CinemaCon this year, with Paramount rolling out new footage for Transformers One, the animated film starring Chris Hemsworth as the voice of Optimus Prime. The movie opens nationwide on September 12, 2024, with Josh Cooley directing from a script by Andrew Barrer, Steve Desmond, and Gabriel Ferrari. Focusing on an origin story set on Cybertron, Transformers One revolves around the relationship and rivalry of Autobot Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and the Decepticon Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry). Other stars joining the cast include Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion.

During today’s Paramount panel at CinemaCon, Scarlett Johansson (in a video from New York) introduced Chris Hemsworth. After paying tribute to the late Peter Cullen, Hemsworth said he was honored to share the part of Optimus Prime with Cullen and become a part of the character’s legacy.

Bryan Tyree Henry took the stage and said the movie is about Optimus Prime and Megatron’s transformation from brothers in arms to sworn enemies. Keegan-Michael Key plays Bumblebee, with Johansson as Akita.

JoBlo’s editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, says the footage for Transformers One is amazing and feels on the level of last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. There are many comedic beats, with Optimus and Megatron having a buddy/buddy chemistry. The film looks visually spellbinding, with robots getting wicked transformation scenes. Chris says the comedic tone could rub some fans wrong, but at least they’re taking a swing. Additionally, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of Transformers movies out in the world.

Paramount then showed the CinemaCon crowd a 3D sequence from the film featuring Bumblebee, Prime, and Megatron hijacking a train on the surface of Cybertron only to be caught by Akira. A massive fight scene ensues, and the crowd goes wild!

In May 2023, Transformers franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura shared details about the epic animated prequel, saying, “I could tell you really important parts of this story, which is more than a tease. This is something we were trying to do; we debated a lot about it in live action, and it just was financially impossible to do, which is, the origin story of young Megatron and young Optimus. 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.”

Lorenzo also teases that the events of Transformers One will prime a “natural trilogy” for fans to enjoy, provided the series continues. He’s already planned the other films, hoping to tell an emotional tale about brothers-in-arms divided and fighting for the world’s fate.

“We’re hoping that there is enough emotional construct to that, that would lead to a trilogy of it because, personally, I think there’s a natural trilogy. I’m not always looking to do multiple movies, but there’s a natural trilogy around their relationship. So, 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.”

Are you excited about Transformers One? What do you think about Chris Hemsworth being the voice of Optimus Prime? Let us know in the comments section below.

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