(Photo by Leon Bennett/FilmMagic)
As production continues on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Collider brings word that Hellboy star Ron Perlman has officially signed on to voice Optimus Primal in Paramount Pictures’ seventh installment to the blockbuster action franchise. The Golden Globe winner has already lent his voice to the character in the 2018 animated series Transformers: Power of the Primes, which was first voiced by Garry Chalk in the original animated series Beast Wars: Transformers in the 90s.
Optimus Primal is the captain of the spaceship Axalon and leader of the Maximals, who are described as the descendants of the Autobots. The character, who takes on the form of a gorilla, took on the name Optimus to honor Optimus Prime, who will indeed appear in the new live-action pic with Peter Cullen to return as the voice of the iconic character in his G1 robot form.
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Returning to the action and spectacle that first captured moviegoers around the world 14 years ago with the original Transformers, the newest installment Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure and introduce the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons. Set to take place in New York City and Peru, the new live-action film will follow Optimus Prime in G1 robot form in the ’90s as he is new to Earth.
The film will be led by Anthony Ramos (Hamilton, In the Heights) and Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah). Joining them are returning characters Bumblebee and Autobot Mirage, along with the introduction of Scourge, Arcee, Nightbird, Air-Razor, Rhinox, and Optimus Primal. The seventh installment is currently slated to debut in theaters on June 24, 2022.
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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is being directed by Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay written by Joby Harold. Further details about its plot and characters are still under wraps but are reportedly expected to pick up the story threads established in 2018’s “soft reboot” Bumblebee.
It will be executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner, David Ellison, Dan Goldberg, Don Granger, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer, and Valerii An, with Transformers director Michael Bay, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, and Duncan Henderson serving as producers. It is a production among Skydance Media, eOne, Bay Films, Di Bonaventura Pictures, and New Republic Pictures.