Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now out on digital and while we’re all excited for the future and what it will bring, there’s another Transformers film coming out NEXT YEAR that is quietly under the radar. We’re talking about Transformers One, the animated prequel depicting the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron. For the Rise of the Beasts home premiere, OTN spoke to longtime Transformers producer and one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Lorenzo di Bonaventura about the upcoming film and its relationship to the live-action Transformers films. Here’s what he had to say:

We’re deep in the process. It’s very exciting. We’re going back to the original story of Transformers so if you’re a Transformers fan, you’ll know but if you don’t know the story it’s still very interesting. The relationship between Megatron (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and Optimus Prime (voiced by Chris Hemsworth), or at this time, they were known as D-16 and Orion Pax. Watching that evolve is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time but we couldn’t do it in live-action because it would be far too expensive. So for this story, funnily enough, animation works and allows you to spectacular things and at a price you can afford. If we did it in live-action, it would probably have been twice as expensive and easily the most expensive Transformers movie we’ve ever made.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura

When we asked di Bonaventura if these films would connect to the live-action films, here’s what he said:

It’s the original canon of Transformers. The live-action films come well after it. If I remember correctly, there’s about three billion years of original canon and live-action films. This has nothing to do with canon but rather the original story of Transformers.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura

While unconfirmed, Transformers One is expected to follow the story between Orion Pax and D-16 before they respectively became Optimus Prime and Megatron. In Transformers canon, D-16 took the young and weak Orion Pax under his wing and mentor him, quickly becoming inseparable and like brothers. However, D-16 and Orion Pax’s views change over time and while D-16, now Megatron, wants to take over Cybertron and destroy anyone in his way, Orion Pax, Now Optimus Prime, wants to liberate his home and fight the good fight. The voice cast is extraordinarily stacked, featuring the likes of Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron, Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion.

Transformers One is currently slated to release on September 13, 2024 and you can watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on digital now. Stay tuned for more from our conversation with di Bonaventura!