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// The Films - 1986 to Today Rise of the Beasts is one chapter. Walk every Transformers film, from the 1986 animated movie through Transformers One, on the movies hub. Open →
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) theatrical poster

// STREAMING NOW ON PARAMOUNT+

Rise of the Beasts

Unite or fall.

Steven Caple Jr.’s Rise of the Beasts pulled the Beast Wars Maximals into the live-action universe for the first time, sent the fight to 1994 Brooklyn and the ruins of Peru, and closed on a G.I. Joe tease that pointed the whole franchise somewhere new. This is the deepest record of it anywhere: every score, every character, every secret, and the long road that got it to the screen.

51%Critics
91%Audience
2h 7mPG-13
Jun 92023
WATCH THE TRAILER MEET THE MAXIMALS
DirectorSteven Caple Jr.
ReleaseJUNE 9 - 2023
Runtime2h 7m
RatingPG-13
GenreSci-fi action adventure
StudiosParamount Pictures / Skydance / Hasbro / di Bonaventura Pictures / New Republic

// THE VERDICT

Every score, in one place.

Reviews were mixed by series standards, but audiences were warmer than the critics: a 51 percent Tomatometer against a 91 percent audience score, and an A-minus from CinemaScore on opening night. Critics praised the human leads and the Maximals while finding the plot familiar.

51%RT Tomatometer
Critics - 235 reviews
91%RT Popcornmeter
Audience score
42Metacritic
51 critics - mixed or average
5.5Metacritic Users
User score, out of 10
6.0IMDb
Approx 132K votes, out of 10
2.9Letterboxd
Community average, out of 5
A-CinemaScore
Opening-night audience grade
The bombast is built into the material, but let it be said that the Transformers movies have been transformed. They are no longer the kind of fun you have to hate.
Owen Gleiberman · Variety
★★★★★
Rise of the Beasts proves that Bumblebee was not a fluke, and that the Transformers series is finally accelerating in the right direction.
Matt Donato · IGN
★★★★★
It is still a movie about giant space robots talking trash and smashing into each other, but Rise of the Beasts is better than most offerings in the franchise.
Christy Lemire · RogerEbert.com
They are no mere cardboard characters but rather fully dimensional individuals, a rarity in Transformers movies.
Soren Andersen · The Seattle Times
Rise of the Beasts is not quite as intimate or grounded as Bumblebee, but neither is it as cumbersome or dull as the other Transformers movies.
Kevin Fox Jr. · Paste
The many action sequences are spectacularly conceived and executed, including a car chase on the Williamsburg Bridge that is probably still tying up downtown traffic.
Frank Scheck · The Hollywood Reporter
The action is improved from the Bay films, but it still gets mundane at a point. The characters are stronger than usual, but the story is still a generic hunt for a mythical item.
Ross Bonaime · Collider
★★★★★
Lacks the ick factor of the earlier Bay-directed efforts, and Fishback and Ramos do a great job as the token humans, but this is still just silly and derivative.
Dan Jolin · Empire
Rise of the Beasts takes its place as the best of the Transformers movies only by playing it safe, leaving even the most diehard fans to wonder what could have been.
Jeremy Mathai · Slashfilm

On a reported budget near 200 million dollars, Rise of the Beasts opened to 61.0 million domestically and finished near 441.7 million worldwide, roughly 157 million at home and 284 million abroad. That makes it the lowest-grossing entry in the live-action franchise, profitable at best after marketing and well short of the series peaks near 1.1 billion. It won its opening frame and drew a strong A-minus grade, but soft legs kept it steady rather than spectacular.

// THE STORY

Unite the Autobots and the Maximals, or lose the Earth.

Set in 1994, between the events of Bumblebee and the 2007 film, the story pulls a struggling ex-military electronics expert named Noah and a museum researcher named Elena into the war when an ancient artifact, the Transwarp Key, awakens. The Key can open portals across space and time, and the planet-devouring god Unicron wants it to consume Earth.

His herald Scourge and the Terrorcons hunt it, while the Autobots, stranded on Earth and desperate to get home, must decide whether to use the Key to escape or to protect humanity. Their unlikely allies are the Maximals, heroic Transformers who disguise as animals, led by the gorilla Optimus Primal, who fled Unicron and hid the Key on Earth long ago. The chase converges on the jungles and ruins of Peru for a fight to keep the Key from Unicron’s grasp.

Beast Wars, made real

The film’s hook was bringing the animal-form Maximals of the 1990s cartoon into live action for the first time, giving the franchise a fresh visual register of fur and feathers over Cybertronian metal.

A grounded era piece

Following Bumblebee, the movie leans into a character-driven, period-specific approach: a hip-hop-inflected 1994 New York, fuller human arcs, and location shooting far from the usual city battlegrounds.

The opening move

Its mid-credits G.I. Joe tease recast a modest film as the launchpad for a wider Hasbro cinematic universe, a Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover long dreamed of in the comics and toys.

It brought the Beast Wars Maximals into live action and closed on a G.I. Joe tease, repositioning the franchise as the launchpad for a wider Hasbro universe.
On what Rise of the Beasts set in motion

// INTERACTIVE CHARACTER EXPLORER

The Autobots, Maximals and Terrorcons.

Tap any character for the voice actor, the backstory, and our read on how faithful the design and role are to Generation One and Beast Wars.

The humans and the cosmic threat

Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz Noah Diaz Anthony Ramos An ex-military electronics expert from Brooklyn pulled into the war, and the film’s human lead. Earns the mid-credits G.I. Joe recruitment.
Dominique Fishback as Elena Wallace Elena Wallace Dominique Fishback A museum artifact researcher who first identifies the Transwarp Key, and the film’s co-lead alongside Noah.
Unicron Colman Domingo The planet-devouring dark god who wants the Transwarp Key to consume Earth. The looming cosmic threat behind Scourge.
Agent Burke Michael Kelly A government agent who recruits Noah in the mid-credits scene, revealing the G.I. Joe organisation.
Kris Diaz Dean Scott Vazquez Noah’s younger brother, living with sickle cell disease, the emotional anchor for Noah’s choices.
Reek Tobe Nwigwe Noah’s friend and would-be partner in crime in 1994 Brooklyn.

// THE FILM, MOMENT BY MOMENT

The moments that define the movie.

The beats the film is built on, walked in order. Click any still to enlarge. Everything from Scourge Strikes on is a spoiler. These slots are built to take two-minute scene clips as they are added; for now, official stills stand in.

The fall of Maximal home

Unicron descends on the Maximals’ planet. Apelinq falls, and Optimus Primal makes the hard call to flee with the Transwarp Key rather than let the planet-eater claim it, hiding it on distant Earth.

Cold open, Weta FX

1994 Brooklyn

Noah Diaz, an out-of-work electronics whiz caring for his sick brother, is talked into stealing a car to make ends meet. The car turns out to be the Autobot Mirage.

Human lead introduced

The Key awakens

Museum researcher Elena uncovers the two halves of the Transwarp Key hidden inside an ancient statue, sending an energy signal across the cosmos that both the Autobots and Scourge detect.

Inciting artifact

Scourge strikes

The herald of Unicron arrives with the Terrorcons and tears through anything in his path, establishing himself as a villain who kills without hesitation and seemingly cuts down Bumblebee.

Villain established

Enter the Maximals

In the jungles of Peru, Optimus Primal and his beast-mode Maximals reveal themselves, bringing the Beast Wars heroes into live action for the first time and joining the Autobots’ fight.

Beast Wars debut

The Peru chase and ruins

The hunt for the Key sweeps through Cusco and ancient stone ruins, a location-rich set piece far from the franchise’s usual city battlegrounds.

Second act

The volcano finale

Autobots and Maximals unite for the crater battle to keep Scourge from assembling the Key and summoning Unicron. Mirage sacrifices himself, his remains forming a suit that lets Noah fight on.

Third act, Weta FX

Unite or fall

Primal and Prime turn the tide together, driving off Unicron’s reach and saving Earth. The two Optimuses standing side by side is the image the film is built toward.

Resolution

// THE ROAD TO RISE OF THE BEASTS

From a Bumblebee follow-up to a franchise pivot.

Five years from the Bumblebee reboot to release, a deliberate move toward mid-budget, character-forward, period-set adventures. Scroll the timeline.

2018 After Bumblebee earns strong reviews, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura frames the next film as an evolution of the reboot.
2019 A Bumblebee follow-up is announced; Paramount begins developing two competing scripts.
2020 Steven Caple Jr., fresh off Creed II, is hired to direct, working from Joby Harold’s script.
2021 Title revealed as Rise of the Beasts. Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback cast as the human leads. Peter Cullen returns; Ron Perlman announced as Optimus Primal. Principal photography runs June to October across Los Angeles, Peru, Montreal and beyond.
2022 Caple reveals Michelle Yeoh as Airazor and Pete Davidson as Mirage; Peter Dinklage joins as Scourge.
2023 Final casting confirmed, including Colman Domingo as Unicron. The film releases June 9 to a franchise-typical opening.

The production shot extensively in Peru, including the Cusco region, giving the film a lush, location-rich look far from the franchise’s usual urban battlegrounds. The 1994 setting and hip-hop soundtrack continued the series’ move toward period-specific character pieces begun by Bumblebee.

// CRAFT & VFX

Fur and feathers over Cybertronian metal.

VFX housesMPC + Weta FX
Weta shots460 over ~5 months
MPC shots~896 delivered
Runtime2h 7m

MPC leads the robots

Moving Picture Company handled the bulk of the Transformers and Beast Wars character work across its London, Montreal, Bangalore, Los Angeles and Adelaide teams, under VFX supervisor Gary Brozenich. This is a deliberate break: ILM, the house behind the Bay-era films, did not do the character work here.

Weta FX and the finale

Weta FX created 460 shots over roughly five months, including the Maximals’ home-planet cold open and the third-act volcano-crater battle, the film’s largest set piece.

Fur and feathers over metal

The Maximals’ designs fuse organic surfaces, gorilla fur, falcon feathers, rhino hide, onto Cybertronian frames. The core challenge was reconciling biological range of motion with rigid mechanical shells.

A human face inside the gorilla

To drive Optimus Primal’s expression, Weta hid a FACS-based facial rig inside the rigid primate face, painted dark and covered in hundreds of exterior pieces, so a real performance reads through the metal.

Optimus Primal, a gorilla Maximal, built with organic fur over a mechanical frame and a human facial rig hidden inside.
Weta FX created the third-act volcano-crater battle, the film’s largest visual-effects set piece.

Directed by Steven Caple Jr.; overall VFX supervision by Gary Brozenich; character and environment work led by MPC with Weta FX on the cold open and finale; score by Jongnic Bontemps with guest cues by Steve Jablonsky.

// THE SOUND OF 1994

A score by Jongnic Bontemps, over golden-age hip-hop.

Jongnic Bontemps became the third composer of the film series, scoring Rise of the Beasts for a 74-piece orchestra that nods to Steve Jablonsky’s 2007 themes and Vince DiCola’s 1986 animated-movie music. Jablonsky himself returned to score three cues. Around it, the film loads its 1994 setting with a curated run of East Coast hip-hop, led by the single On My Soul from Tobe Nwigwe and Nas.

Score highlights

  • Rhinox RhythmJongnic Bontemps
  • Switchback ChaseSteve Jablonsky, guest cue
  • Till All Are OneSteve Jablonsky, guest cue
  • Humans and Autobots UnitedSteve Jablonsky, guest cue
  • The Transwarp KeyJongnic Bontemps

On the radio, in the film

  • On My Soul - Tobe Nwigwe & Nas ft. Jacob BanksLead single / end credits
  • C.R.E.A.M. - Wu-Tang Clan1994 Brooklyn
  • Check the Rhime - A Tribe Called QuestPeriod soundtrack
  • Hypnotize - The Notorious B.I.G.Period soundtrack
  • Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) - Digable PlanetsPeriod soundtrack

Original score by Jongnic Bontemps, the official album playlist via YouTube.

// OFFICIAL TRAILER

Watch the official trailer.

Official trailer via Paramount Pictures on YouTube. Embedded with youtube-nocookie for viewer privacy.

// THE CAMPAIGN

Selling the Beasts, and a bigger universe.

A Beast Wars reveal

Marketing leaned hard on the first live-action Maximals, teasing Optimus Primal, Airazor, Rhinox and Cheetor to court the Beast Wars generation that grew up on the 1990s cartoon.

The 1994 hip-hop hook

Trailers and the lead single On My Soul, from Tobe Nwigwe and Nas, foregrounded the film’s period New York setting and its curated golden-age hip-hop soundtrack.

A Hasbro universe tease

The campaign hinted at a bigger plan, paid off by the mid-credits reveal that positioned the film as the opening move toward a shared Transformers and G.I. Joe cinematic universe.

Location-first promotion

Peru played a starring role in press, with the Cusco shoot and ancient ruins used to sell a more grounded, globe-trotting adventure than the series’ usual urban destruction.

// STAY SEATED - MID-CREDITS

The scene that changes the franchise.

Mid-credits

The G.I. Joe recruitment

Noah arrives for what he thinks is a small security-job interview and instead meets government agent Burke, played by Michael Kelly, who already knows Noah fought alongside the Autobots and Maximals in Peru.

The offer

A card, and a logo

Burke offers to cover the medical bills of Noah’s brother Kris and invites him to join a secret organisation. He hands Noah a business card; flipping it over reveals the G.I. Joe logo, officially seeding a Transformers and G.I. Joe shared universe.

// EASTER EGGS & DEEP CUTS

For the fans who never stopped watching.

Tap a card to flip it.

Did you know

  • It is set in 1994, between Bumblebee and the 2007 film.
  • The Maximals from Beast Wars made their live-action debut, led by Optimus Primal.
  • Ron Perlman voiced Optimus Primal and Michelle Yeoh voiced Airazor.
  • Peter Dinklage voiced the Unicron herald Scourge, leader of the Terrorcons.
  • The film shot extensively on location in Peru, including the Cusco region.
  • Its mid-credits scene teases a crossover with the G.I. Joe franchise.
  • Director Steven Caple Jr. came to the series from Creed II.
  • The planet-eater Unicron, introduced in the 1986 animated film, is the main threat.
  • ILM did not do the robot work; MPC and Weta FX handled the visual effects.
  • It is the lowest-grossing entry in the live-action Transformers franchise, at about 441.7 million dollars worldwide.

// COLLECT THE MOVIE

Explore the cast in the archive.

The Maximals, Terrorcons and Autobots of Rise of the Beasts, each linked to its full dossier and figures in our encyclopedia.

Optimus Primal Optimus Primal The gorilla Maximal leader, brought to live action by Ron Perlman. Read his dossier and track the Beast Wars figures in the archive. View dossier → Scourge Scourge The herald of Unicron and the film’s brutal villain. Explore the Terrorcon leader in the encyclopedia. View dossier → Airazor Airazor The falcon Maximal scout voiced by Michelle Yeoh. Her profile and figures are catalogued in the archive. View dossier → Cheetor Cheetor The swift cheetah Maximal. Walk his history from Beast Wars to the big screen. View dossier → Rhinox Rhinox The powerhouse rhinoceros Maximal and the team’s muscle. See his dossier. View dossier → Mirage Mirage The wisecracking Porsche 911 voiced by Pete Davidson. Browse his Autobot entry and figures. View dossier →

Browse the full Transformers toy archive →

// FREQUENTLY ASKED

Everything people ask about the film.

Is Rise of the Beasts a sequel to Bumblebee?

Yes. It continues the rebooted timeline that Bumblebee started. Bumblebee is set in 1987 and Rise of the Beasts is set in 1994, seven years later, keeping the grounded, character-driven tone.

When and where is the film set?

In 1994, primarily in Brooklyn and New York City, the home of human lead Noah Diaz, and in Peru around the Cusco region. The nineties setting drives the hip-hop soundtrack and production design.

Who are the Maximals?

A heroic Transformers faction from Beast Wars lore who transform into organic animals rather than vehicles. In the film they are led by Optimus Primal, a gorilla, with Airazor, a falcon, Rhinox, a rhino, and Cheetor, a cheetah. They fled Cybertron and hid the Transwarp Key on Earth.

Is Beast Wars now canon to the movies?

The film brings Beast Wars characters and the Maximals into the live-action universe for the first time, but it is its own continuity, not a direct adaptation of the 1996 Beast Wars cartoon. The characters are canon to these films; the cartoon storyline is not.

Does it connect to G.I. Joe?

Yes. The mid-credits scene teases a Transformers and G.I. Joe shared cinematic universe, with Noah recruited by an organisation revealed to be G.I. Joe.

Is there a post-credits scene?

The G.I. Joe recruitment plays as a mid-credits moment, as the credits begin. There is nothing after the full credits.

Where can I stream it?

In the United States it streams on Paramount+ with a subscription, and is available to rent or buy on Fandango at Home, Amazon Video and Apple TV, plus DVD, Blu-ray and 4K.

Will there be a sequel?

It is uncertain as of 2026. A direct sequel and the teased Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover were both in development, but reporting says the crossover has stalled with no confirmed date. Treat any release window as unconfirmed.

// WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming now, and to own.

Rise of the Beasts streams on Paramount+ and is available to buy or rent on the major digital storefronts.

Paramount+ Apple TV Prime Video Google Play Fandango at Home YouTube