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Transformers One

alt	In the background is the face of D-16; in the center is Orion Pax, Elita-1, and B-127 facing forwards; in the foreground are various Transformers in their vehicle forms.
director	Josh Cooley
screenplay	Eric Pearson Andrew Barrer Gabriel Ferrari
story	Andrew Barrer Gabriel Ferrari
based on	Hasbro's Transformers action figures by
producer	Tom DeSanto Don Murphy Lorenzo di Bonaventura Michael Bay Mark Vahradian Aaron Dem
starring	Chris Hemsworth Brian Tyree Henry Scarlett Johansson Keegan-Michael Key Steve Buscemi Laurence Fishburne Jon Hamm
cinematography	Christopher Batty
editing	Lynn Hobson
music	Brian Tyler
studio	Paramount Animation Hasbro Entertainment New Republic Pictures di Bonaventura Pictures Bayhem Films
distributor	Paramount Pictures
runtime	104 minutes
country	United States
language	English
budget	$75–147 million
gross	$129.4 million‡R1R‡‡R2R‡

Transformers One is a 2024 American animated science fiction action film based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line. It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the latter two of whom also conceived the film's story. The film features the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm. It is set on Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers, and depicts the origins and early relationship of Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron (Henry).

In March 2015, following the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures tasked Akiva Goldsman to set up a writers' room to create ideas for potential future Transformers films. By May 2015, Barrer and Ferrari had signed on as writers, and they came up with the idea of an animated prequel set on Cybertron. The film was announced in August 2017, and by April 2020, Cooley had been hired to direct. Animation services were provided by Industrial Light & Magic, and the design was primarily influenced by the Generation 1 era and Art Deco. The score was composed by

Plot

Cybertron is a technological world formed by the body of the metal deity Primus and inhabited by sentient robots fueled by a substance called Energon, who live in a hierarchy based on whether they possess a 'transformation cog' that allows them to shapeshift into vehicles. In the underground city of Iacon, Orion Pax, a cogless mining robot, sneaks into an archive to learn about the first Cybertronians, the Thirteen Primes. Security guards spot and chase Orion, but his best friend, D-16, helps him escape. Later, during a cave-in at the Energon mine where they work, the two break protocol to save fellow miner Jazz. However, this worsens the disaster, and their superior, Elita-1, gets blamed for it and demoted by their callous overseer, Darkwing.

Iacon's leader, Sentinel Prime, returns from an expedition to the surface to find the lost Matrix of Leadership, the absence of which has caused Energon to stop flowing and forced the miners to extract it. Though unable to find it, he reprieves the population with a race. To prove themselves as more than just miners, Orion enters himself and D-16 illegally using jet packs, but they narrowly lose. While Sentinel promises to reward them for boosting mining morale, Darkwing, enraged at Orion and D-16 for sabotaging him in the race, drags the two to garbage incineration, where they meet the eccentric B-127. Finding a distress message from the Prime Alpha Trion in the garbage, Orion convinces D-16 and B-127 to travel with him to the message's coordinates on the surface; also persuading Elita to join when she catches them sneaking out of Iacon.

The group finds Alpha Trion in a cave, deactivated alongside the other Primes' corpses. Upon reactivation, he reveals that Sentinel is a pretender who betrayed the real Primes to steal the Matrix, only for it to disappear when Primus deemed him unworthy. In truth, Sentinel has been giving Energon to aliens called Quintessons in exchange for letting him rule Cybertron, and he created the current hierarchy by removing some Cybertronians' cogs before activation. Alpha Trion gives the group the fallen Primes' cogs—allowing them to transform—and a chip with evidence of Sentinel's treason. They are then ambushed by Sentinel's lieutenant, Airachnid, who captures Trion and brings him back to Iacon, where Sentinel executes him.

Evading pursuit, the group rushes back to Iacon but is captured by the Primes' former army, the Cybertronian High Guard, who are rebelling against Sentinel. While D-16 takes command of them by defeating their leader, Starscream, Orion grows concerned over his aggression since learning the truth. Sentinel's troops find them, and in the ensuing battle, the evidence chip is destroyed while D-16, B-127, and Starscream are captured along with most of the High Guard. Taken to Iacon, D-16 learns that Sentinel stole the cog of his idol, Megatronus Prime, whose face his captors mockingly brand onto him.

Encouraged by Elita, Orion rallies remaining High Guard members Soundwave and Shockwave, and returns to Iacon to rescue their comrades. After subduing Darkwing, Orion enlists the miners' aid to assault Sentinel's headquarters, freeing the captives. As the High Guard battles Sentinel's forces, Orion, Elita, and B-127 expose the truth by capturing Airachnid and broadcasting her memory recordings throughout the city. D-16 defeats Sentinel but gets into an argument with Orion over whether to kill him, resulting in D-16 accidentally shooting Orion before deliberately letting him fall to his death. D-16 then kills Sentinel, takes Megatronus' cog, renames himself Megatron, and leads the High Guard into a riot.

Deeming Orion worthy, Primus and the Primes' spirits bestow him with the Matrix and revive him as Optimus Prime, who defeats Megatron and exiles him and the High Guard from Iacon. The Matrix then makes Energon flow again and restores the miners' cogs. Afterward, Optimus becomes Iacon's new leader, christens his followers as Autobots, and sends a warning message for the Quintessons to stay away from Cybertron. Meanwhile, a vengeful Megatron reforms the High Guard into the Decepticons, using Megatronus' face as their insignia, and declares war on the Autobots.

Production

Development

Following the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures tasked Akiva Goldsman in March 2015 to work with the film franchise's director Michael Bay, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to set up a writers' room to create ideas for future Transformers films. According to Goldsman, the writing team would look at various Transformers media created by Hasbro for inspiration; if they found one that interested them, they could submit a treatment, which would then be further developed by the whole team. In late May, the team of Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari signed on as writers. According to Deadline Hollywood, one of the ideas from the writer's room had the working title Transformers One and would serve as an animated prequel focusing on the Autobot–Decepticon conflict that began on Cybertron.

In August 2017, it was reported that an animated Transformers film was officially in the works. Following the release of Bumblebee (2018), di Bonaventura discussed the animated film, clarifying that it was "in the works" and would "tell the whole Cybertron mythology". Bumblebee director Travis Knight additionally expressed interest in the film.

In April 2020, it was reported that former Pixar animator and filmmaker Josh Cooley had been hired to direct the film and was overseeing the script by Barrer and Ferrari. Hasbro Entertainment and Paramount Animation would produce the film. In February 2022, it emerged that the film would be computer-animated. In December 2022, the title was reported to be Transformers: A New Generation, though di Bonaventura later stated in April 2023 that the title had yet to be finalized. Later that month, at CinemaCon, the title was officially confirmed as Transformers One. di Bonaventura stated that the plot will center around the origins of the Transformers, and explore the events that lead Optimus and Megatron to go from being brothers-in-arms to becoming enemies. The budget was reportedly $75 million, although an Animation Magazine interview with Cooley and di Bonaventura put the cost of production as high as $147 million.

Writing

Eric Pearson, Barrer, and Ferrari received screenplay credit, with Barrer and Ferrari receiving story credits. When Cooley joined the project, Hasbro gave him a bible that covered the lore for the entire franchise. Cooley wanted to capture an "epic quality" and grand scale for the film and used The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and Dune (1965) as points of reference. As there are no human characters in Transformers One as they are in previous films in the franchise, Cooley and the team aimed to "inject more comedy and humanity" into the Transformers themselves. They wanted to make sure that the characters had enough humor and emotion to carry the story on their own. The film depicts how the Transformers gained the ability to transform, an idea Cooley found appealing. He felt that there was fun in seeing the characters learn and adapt to their new powers.

The relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron and the tragedy of their falling out is the emotional core of the film. For Cooley, it was important to show that Megatron was not just a villain. He wanted people who did not know Transformers to come into the film and not be able to immediately pick up who was going to be good or bad. He took inspiration from several famous brothers-turned-enemies stories from across pop culture when crafting the story arc. As a reference to his previous origin story, the film originally included a scene depicting Megatron as a gladiator, to have him and Optimus Prime come from completely different backgrounds. Due to runtime constraints, that idea was scrapped and they were both made to be coworkers in the mines instead.

Casting and voice recording

The voice cast of the film was announced at CinemaCon in April 2023, consisting of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as younger versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm, and Laurence Fishburne headlining. In April 2024, Steve Buscemi, who had previously voiced Daytrader in Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), was cast as Starscream. Cooley desired to get a voice cast as impressive as that of The Transformers: The Movie.

Transformers One was Hemsworth's first animated feature film. He joined the project after being impressed with the screenplay. Hemsworth made efforts to not use his regular speaking voice for Optimus Prime. Many of Hemsworth's lines in the film were "riff offs" from what the filmmakers wrote, bringing his charisma and comedy to them. From a fan's point of view, di Bonaventura felt important to respect longtime Optimus Prime actor Peter Cullen's performance while not bringing him back to ensure the audience felt Prime's youth, leading to Hemsworth's casting, who surprised di Bonaventura with his "very strong sense of story".

Cooley's desire to harken back to the chattier version of Bumblebee seen in other Transformers media influenced Key's casting, who he had worked with before when directing Pixar's Toy Story 4 (2019). Cooley requested that Key stay close to his regular speaking voice for Bumblebee. Johansson was approached to voice Elita by Hemsworth, who texted her upon joining the project himself. The two had previously worked together in several Marvel Cinematic Universe

Animation and design

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), who had provided the visual effects for the first six live-action Transformers installments, returned to provide the animation for the film. Rob Coleman served as animation supervisor, and Frazier Churchill served as VFX supervisor. Cooley directed the studio to create a visual style for the film that was realistic enough to be believable while still looking like it was crafted by human hands.

The designs of the Transformers were heavily influenced by those of Generation 1. Cooley said, "They're really clear and have these great silhouettes. It was important to hit that." The team began by looking at the work of original Transformers character designer, Floro Dery. Art Deco was a big influence on the film's production and character design, with Cooley describing the style as being all about post-depression. He felt it to be relevant to the film as it takes place before the planet of Cybertron falls apart and while things are still going well. In order to make the Transformers feel more human and for the audiences to better connect, the team at ILM was instructed to make them more emotive with their faces and character animation. Measures applied to ensure this included making sure their faces were not covered all of the time and making their eyes more expressive. Cooley felt a grand sense of scale was essential to the Transformers brand. As there are no humans in the film to use as a scale reference, the team looked to Cybertron instead and aimed to make it feel larger than life.

Music

In May 2024, it was announced that Brian Tyler, who had previously provided the score for the animated television series Transformers: Prime (2010–2013), would compose the score for Transformers One. The soundtrack album features the score and was released by Sony Classical Records and Milan Records on September 20, 2024. An original song for the film, "If I Fall", written by Tyler and performed by Quavo and Ty Dolla Sign, was released as a single on September 6, 2024. A second original song, "Together As One", by DJ and producer Excision, was released on September 12, 2024.

Reception

Box office

Transformers One grossed $59.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $70.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $129.4 million.[2][1]

In the United States and Canada, Transformers One was released alongside The Substance and Never Let Go, and was projected to gross $30–40 million from 3,978 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $9.6 million on its first day, including $3.4 million from Wednesday and Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $24.6 million, finishing second behind holdover Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The opening weekend gross was deemed disappointing, but there was optimism that the film would do well over time. In its second weekend, the film had a 62.8% drop, making only $9.1 million and finishing in third.[6] This was attributed to the lack of marketing and interest from families, as well as facing competition from The Wild Robot, which took over in premium format screens.[7]

Internationally, the film was released on dates ranging from September 11, 2024 (in Indonesia), to October 24, 2024 (in Israel).[2] In the United Kingdom and Ireland region, where it released on October 11, 2024, the film opened to £1.6 million, ranking it above DC Comics holdover Joker: Folie à Deux.[8]

Critical response

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an average five out of five stars, with 75% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Todd Gilchrist of Variety praised the film's direction, animation, and screenplay. He felt the film boasted a level of complexity and described it as "the most sophisticated onscreen portrait" of the Transformers to date. G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle compared the film favorably to the live-action installments, applauding its screenplay, visuals, and resonant themes, and describing it as unapologetically made for "the inner child." Carlos Aguilar of the Los Angeles Times opined that the film benefitted from the low quality standard set by prior Transformers films, but still commended it for its screenplay, themes, humor, animation, and emotional core. Adam Graham of The Detroit News awarded the film a B− rating, praising the animation, direction, screenplay, and humor, and comparing it favorably to the live-action installments.

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film for its direction, animation, screenplay, and emotional core and felt it to have revitalized the Transformers franchise. Leigh Monson of The A.V. Club awarded the film a B− rating. They commended the story, animation, and voice performances, though felt the film to be predictable and unambitious. Randy Myers of The Mercury News gave the film a 3 out of 4 rating and referred to it as the best of the Paramount Transformers films. They lauded the humor, voice performances, and animation.

Tom Jorgensen of IGN rated the film 5 out of 10, praising the voice cast and

Accolades