For the first time since 1986, the Transformers franchise is set to release a feature-length animated film in theaters on July 19, 2024. While major details about the film haven't been revealed yet, Collider's Steve Weintraub had the chance to sit down for an interview with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, producer of both the upcoming animated film as well as the new live-action film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, where it was confirmed that the legendary visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic, also known as ILM, would be animating the upcoming film.
ILM is an institution in Hollywood that has worked on some of the biggest films and series in the industry since it was founded by George Lucas in 1975. The company's portfolio includes the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies as well as many films within the Star Trek franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as television series within these universes and franchises such as The Mandalorian, Andor, Loki, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, along with numerous other blockbusters and series. When it comes to the Transformers franchise, ILM has previously worked on CGI animation in the live-action films. Their previous output for animated films includes Rango, the Johnny Depp-starring film of an eccentric chameleon that lies his way to becoming sheriff of a small western town, becoming a hero to the people along the way. The film went on to win Best Animated Feature at the 2012 Academy Awards.
During the interview, Weintraub asked how the team was approaching the look of the new film and the style that it will be striving for, to which di Bonaventura said, "Having seen probably four shots from it, you've never seen anything like it, I'll say it that way. For sure, you'll go, “Oh my God, it's a whole thing.” I'm not sure if I'm supposed to divulge it, but I'm going to. ILM is doing the animation." Weintraub followed up by talking about ILM’s incredible work, to which di Bonaventura brought up the aforementioned Rango. "Yes, they won an Oscar, Rango. When you think about the quality of that, whether Rango is your favorite movie or you don't like it, the quality of it was like, wow, right? So, we are reaching for something very spectacular." Bonaventura continued by explaining why the team is such a great fit for their vision for Cybertron, saying:
"You know, I think one of the difficulties in the past, for instance, in rendering Cybertron is, if you have to try to create the whole planet, it gets really expensive. So when you look at the intro in the beginning of Bumblebee, or in [Michael Bay's] movies, we have different versions of it. This thing has to be a living, breathing environment, and so we have to create an environment that is unique to Cybertron, and given the history of Primus and all the things that go behind it, we're allowed to inhabit, if you would, the planet in a way you couldn't do it in live-action. Thankfully, ILM is a great partner in that."
Cybertron Will Be The Setting Of the Animated Film
While the major details of the film are still being kept close to the chest, the untitled animated Transformers movie was announced to be a prequel film during its April 2020 announcement and will be directed by Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley. With the story being a prequel, fans wondered if the Transformers' home planet, Cybertron, would play a major role. During the same interview with Weintraub, di Bonaventura did confirm that the new film will be set on Cybertron and will explore the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron.
"We debated a lot about it in live action, and it just was financially impossible to do, which is, the origin story of young Megatron and young Optimus. If you know the origin, they started as friends, and over time things devolved for them and they ended up on two sides. So we're telling the young Optimus and the young Megatron story. We really are telling the origin story of all Transformers, both what they were at the beginning of it, to how they grow, to how they grow apart."
The untitled animated Transformers film is set to release in theaters on July 19, 2024. For a lot more on what the new animated movie is about, head over to our exclusive conversation with di Bonaventura.