Hasbro
The Apology Tour · 40th Anniversary · Fathom Entertainment
Tickets, dates
and 4DX
The Transformers: The Movie returns to cinemas on 17 September 2026, restored in 4K, in eight confirmed countries, with an all-new post-credits chapter made for the event. Tickets went on sale 7 August. Here is the whole picture in one place: the real date window, every market, where 4DX is actually playing, and what the collectible concessions are.
The short answer
The run opens Wednesday 17 September 2026, Transformers Day. Fathom’s press release calls it a 17 to 21 September run, and every news story has repeated that. But Fathom’s own ticketing page is currently selling 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 September, plus a separate 4DX schedule. We think the ticketing page is the one to trust, because that is what your local cinema loads its times from, but treat the last two nights as the ones most likely to move.
Book through Fathom’s official event page, or straight through your chain below.
Read this first
Five days, or fifteen?
This is the one thing worth getting right before you book, and it is the one thing every other write-up has wrong, because they all restated the same press release.
The Hasbro and Fathom announcement of 24 July 2026 describes a five-night run, 17 to 21 September. Fathom’s campaign hub says the same. But the page that actually sells the tickets, the Fathom release page, renders date tabs for fifteen nights, 17 September through 1 October, alongside a separate 4DX tab. It ran to 23 September when we first checked it, and the descriptive copy on that same page still reads “six days only, September 17–22”. Checked again 10 September 2026.
The most likely explanation is straightforward: the event has been extended since the announcement and the marketing copy has not caught up. That happens routinely with Fathom runs when presales are strong. It is also possible the extra tabs are regional overflow for markets that start late.
What we would do
Book the 17th to the 21st with confidence: that is the only span every piece of official material agrees on. For anything after the 21st, and the tabs now run to 1 October, check that your specific cinema is actually listing the night before you make plans around it. We will update this page again if Fathom reconciles its own dates.
Where it plays
Eight confirmed countries
These eight were named directly in the announcement. Fathom added that “additional markets to be announced”, so treat this as the floor rather than the final list.
| Country | 4DX | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4DX | Widest release. Collectible concessions at participating theatres. |
| Canada | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. Cineplex and Landmark carry most Fathom events. |
| United Kingdom | 4DX | The only market outside the US confirmed for 4DX. |
| Ireland | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
| Australia | Standard + 4K | Event Cinemas is listing the event locally. |
| New Zealand | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
| Mexico | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
| Germany | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
What 4DX actually does to this film
4DX is a motion-seat format with environmental effects, wind, water, strobes, fog and scent, choreographed against the picture. It is confirmed for the United States and United Kingdom only.
On most catalogue titles 4DX is a novelty. On this one it is a genuinely different proposition, because the film is essentially one long action sequence: the shuttle boarding, the Autobot City siege, the Sharkticon pit, the plunge into Unicron. It is also an eighty-four minute film, so it never outstays the format. If you have a 4DX screen within reach, this is one of the better catalogue titles to spend it on.
Booking
Where to get seats
Tickets went on sale 7 August 2026. Fathom’s page is canonical, but it needs a location set before the showtime grid appears, which is exactly why no static listing of this event exists anywhere. The chain links below skip that step.
| Seller | Type | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom Entertainment | Official event page | The canonical listing. Set your location first, then the date tabs populate. | Open |
| Fandango | US ticketing | Event ID 246634. Note there is also a stale 35th-anniversary listing still live, check the year. | Open |
| AMC Theatres | US chain | Movie ID 84517. | Open |
| Cinemark | US chain | Carries the 4DX auditoriums in several markets. | Open |
| Regal | US chain | Search the title from the Regal homepage, the event slug changes by region. | Open |
| Cineplex | Canada | The Canadian listing, filed under the full Apology Tour title rather than the film name. | Open |
| ODEON | United Kingdom | The UK listing, film code HO00009275. | Open |
| Event Cinemas | Australia | The Australian listing. | Open |
Watch out for the wrong listing
Fandango still has a live event page from the 35th anniversary re-release, and it still ranks. There is also a legacy 1986 title page. If the year on the page is not 2026 and the event ID is not 246634, you are on the wrong listing.
In the auditorium
What is in the screening
The film, restored in 4K
The original 1986 theatrical film, not a re-edit. Nothing has been re-animated, no scenes have been added into the body of the picture, and the cut is the one you know. If you have only ever seen it on a fullscreen home video transfer, note that the film was animated 4:3 and matted in projection, so a cinema presentation actually shows you less vertical picture than your DVD did, framed the way it was meant to be seen.
An all-new post-credits chapter
The single genuinely new piece of material, created specifically for this theatrical event and first shown at San Diego Comic-Con on 24 July 2026. It plays after the credits, so do not walk out. Hasbro’s tagline for it is “Every Epic Saga Has a Secret. As This Journey Ends, a New One Begins.”
Neither Hasbro nor Fathom has said what happens in it, and no studio, director or writer has been credited for it anywhere. Anyone telling you what is in it is guessing. We are tracking it on the post-credits page, which we will update the day it screens.
Collectible popcorn buckets and drinkware
Hasbro and Fathom confirmed exclusive collectible concessions for the event, including popcorn buckets and specialty drinkware. The caveats are the ones that always apply and they matter here: participating theatres in the United States only, while supplies last, and purchase limits may apply. No other market was named.
If you want one, go early in the run and go to a larger site. Fathom concession exclusives on popular titles routinely clear out inside the first weekend, and they resell immediately.
There is now a retail alternative, and it is a different object from the Fathom one. Target is selling a light up Optimus Prime popcorn bucket built by CultureFly at $24.99, an ordinary stocked product with a barcode and a shipping option, so you can have one without a ticket. We covered it here.
After the run
The disc you actually want
If you are going on the 17th and you already know you will want it on a shelf afterwards, the picture just got a lot clearer. Shout! Factory has the 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 4K UHD steelbook up for pre-order, two discs, dated 17 November 2026, and both of them carry a new Dolby Atmos mix with Dolby Vision on the 4K. We have been asking for that ever since the 35th Anniversary steelbook, so this one is easy to point you at!
The price is not the same everywhere and that matters here. Shout’s own storefront has it at $39.99, Amazon has the identical set at $49.98, so it is worth thirty seconds of comparison before you commit to either.
There is a cheaper way in. The DVD streets earlier, 13 October, at $15.99, and it carries the full legacy extras package (two outlets reported it as a bare disc, having worked that out from the 85 minute runtime, and they were wrong). If you just want the film on your shelf, that is the one. If you want it to look and sound like 2026, wait the extra five weeks.
One line on disc two of the steelbook we cannot let pass: “Animated Coda (TBD) (2026)”. Shout has not said what it is. We are not going to tell you it is the post-credits chapter you are about to watch in the cinema, because nobody official has said so, but a brand new 2026 animated piece landing on the release that follows the theatrical run is a lot of coincidence for one line of a spec sheet.
Before you go
The tie-ins worth knowing about
Hasbro has built a whole product wave around the anniversary. The one named directly in the Fathom announcement is the Matrix replica, which is about as on-the-nose a merchandising decision as the company has ever made given what the Matrix does in this film.
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Soundtrack
Figures
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Questions
Everything people ask
The 40th Anniversary run opens on Wednesday 17 September 2026, which Hasbro observes as Transformers Day. Fathom’s press release describes the run as 17 to 21 September, but its live ticketing page currently lists showtime dates all the way through 23 September, plus a separate 4DX schedule. Check your local listing for the exact nights near you.
Both figures come from Fathom. The announcement issued on 24 July 2026 says 17 to 21 September, and every news outlet has restated that. The ticketing page itself, which is the surface that actually sells seats, shows date tabs for 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 September. Where the two disagree we would trust the ticketing page, since that is what your local cinema is loading its schedule from, but treat the last two nights as subject to change.
Eight markets were named in the announcement: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Germany. Fathom added that further markets would be announced, so the list may have grown since.
4DX is confirmed for the United States and the United Kingdom only. No other market was named for the format. 4DX adds motion seats and environmental effects such as wind, water and scent, timed to the picture, which on this film means the Autobot City battle and the Unicron sequences in particular.
It is the original 1986 animated film, restored in 4K. It has not been re-edited or re-animated. The one piece of genuinely new material is a post-credits chapter created specifically for this theatrical event, which is not part of the film itself and plays after the credits.
Yes. Hasbro and Fathom confirmed exclusive collectible concessions including popcorn buckets and specialty drinkware. These are limited to participating theatres in the United States, are available while supplies last, and purchase limits may apply. They were not announced for any other market. Separately, Target is selling a CultureFly light up Optimus Prime popcorn bucket at retail for $24.99, which is a different product and needs no ticket.
Tickets went on sale worldwide on 7 August 2026, both online and at participating box offices.
Yes. Shout! Factory has a 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 4K UHD steelbook up for pre-order, dated 17 November 2026. It is a two disc set, a 4K UHD and a Blu-ray, both carrying a new Dolby Atmos mix, with Dolby Vision on the 4K. Shout lists it at $39.99 on its own storefront and Amazon has the same set at $49.98. A separate DVD edition streets earlier, on 13 October 2026, at $15.99.
It is Hasbro’s name for the campaign. The full event title is "The Transformers: The Movie: The Apology Tour 40th Anniversary Screenings", and the framing is a knowing, forty-years-late apology for what the film did to Optimus Prime. Fathom’s own copy invites you "back to the scene of the crime".
Keep reading
Before the lights go down
At home
Where to watch the 1986 movie
Every streaming, rental and disc route, and what each one costs.
The hubThe Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Scores, cast, the moments, the craft and the full archive.
ReferenceWho dies in the movie
The complete death roster, and the toy-line reason behind it.
ReferenceThe ending, explained
The Matrix, Rodimus, Unicron’s head, and what season 3 did next.
TrackingThe new post-credits chapter
Everything confirmed, and everything that is still speculation.
Physical mediaThe 40th Anniversary disc
Date, price, specs and the extras list other sites got wrong.
The toysThe 1986 movie line
Every figure Hasbro made for the film, and the ones it quietly dropped.
The archiveThe G1 voice cast
Who played whom across 98 episodes, and who came back for the film.