Paramount Unveils Next Chapter in "Transformers" Franchise

Paramount revealed Tuesday the latest chapter of its blockbuster "Transformers" franchise.

The studio unveiled that the seventh installment in the franchise will be titled "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts".

The announcement was made during a virtual press event to celebrate the beginning of production.

That name will reminiscence fans of the 1990s cartoon "Beast Wars", which centered on a group of robots that took animal form. Filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. was among the generation who grew up loving Beast Wars.

“There are different breeds of Transformers. In our particular film, they are prehistoric animals who travel through time and space, and we find them here on Earth.”said Caple, who last directed Creed II.

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" will take place in Brooklyn, New York, and Peru, among other locations.

As for the ’90s setting, Caple, who has been playing ’90s hip-hop on set to get the right feel going, stated: “You are going to feel hip-hop culture. You are going to feel Brooklyn.”

He added that Optimus Prime will be the film’s protagonist and will appear in his G1 form, his look from the classic 1980s toy line. He will once again be voiced by Peter Cullen.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Optimus Prime[/caption]

Caple also uncovered Scourge will be the villain. He’s quite formidable, fusing parts of slain Transformers onto his own body, noting that Scourge loves to collect Autobots and Maximals and use them as his trophy.

The movie will also feature Autobots and Decepticons never before seen on the big screen.

Michael Bay directed five movies in the franchise from 2007-17, with Travis Knight directing the 2018, 1980s-set prequel "Bumblebee". The franchise has grossed $4.8 billion globally.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura, film producer best known for producing the franchise, stated Caple was chosen to pick up the mantle because the team was looking for someone who could tackle "heart and humor".

Bonaventura expressed that they desired to deliver a movie that has the scale and spectacle of the Bay films with the heart and humor we were able to achieve in "Bumblebee", and Shia’s LaBeouf relationship with Bumblebee in the Bay movies.

Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback lead the new movie as the human characters.