Michael Bay's Transformers movies weren't exactly beloved among critics and fans, but they still drew a massive audience and broke box office records at a time it was far from commonplace for blockbusters to earn $1 billion worldwide.
Bumblebee was meant to serve as a fresh start but, with franchise fatigue setting in, its $468 million haul wasn't enough for the reboot to be deemed a true hit.
Now, Paramount Pictures is taking another crack at the property with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Capitalising on 90s nostalgia and attempting to do something truly new by introducing the Maximals, the hope is that this fresh start could usher in a new era of storytelling. The marketing campaign currently feels a little muted, though, and there might be a good reason for that.
Talking on The Hot Mic (via SFFGazette.com), Jeff Sneider claims that there are major issues with the movie ahead of its June release.
"They're getting a little worried about 'Transformers,'" he explains. "This is what they said, they said that 'Transformers' has gone through close to a dozen different editing teams that have argued about different cuts of the film."
The podcast's co-host, John Rocha, took those comments a step further, describing it as a "mess" that the studio is "trying to fix it."
We can't imagine this is going to result in a release date delay, but it might be wise to brace ourselves for another underwhelming Transformers adventure. Unless, of course, Paramount has indeed managed to sort it out in time!
"Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a '90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new breed of Transformer – the Maximals – to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons," reads the movie's brief synopsis.
As for the cast, that's led by Hamilton star Anthony Ramos, with Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez, and Tobe Nwigwe joining him. Peter Cullen will once again lend his voice to Optimus Prime, while Ron Perlman has stepped in to play Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to be released in theatres on June 9, 2023.