There’s only one month left until audiences seeTransformersin theaters once again withSteven Caple Jr’sRise of the Beasts. A lot is riding on the film as it marks a reboot of the blockbuster franchise helmed for years byMichael Bay. Collider has learned, however, that this won’t be quite as long of a cinematic affair as those films were. Asthe Maximals and Predacons join the warbetween the bots on Earth, fans can expect a brisk 1 hour and 57-minute adventure (not including the credits), matching that of theJeff BridgesclassicThe Big Lebowski, just for for reference.
That’s a pretty stark departure from Bay’s movies which all cracked the 2-hour mark and only seemed to get longer as the franchise expanded, capping out at 2 hours and 45 minutes forTransformers: Age of Extinction. That said, the franchise has learned to stick to more trimmed-down, contained films since then. 2018’sBumblebee, the last film in the franchise before the upcomingRise of the Beasts, came in three minutes shorter than Caple Jr’s film will. While it might be a tough ask for the film to squeeze inso many new animal-themed Transformers, as well asPete Davidson’s new Autobot spy Mirage, it should keep the plot rolling and the action flowing for anyone eager to see these bots battle on the big screen again.
It’s not just Bay’s films thatRise of the Beastsbeats out in runtime. While most films fall in that sweet spot of around 100 to 120 minutes, blockbuster franchises tend to live on the longer side. It does, however, make for a more convincing ask for fans to jump back on theTransformersbandwagon with a more digestible film length. Part of it also comes fromthe change in approachas noted by franchise producerLorenzo di Bonaventura. There’s a conscious effort to make this film, and the potential future installments after it, more focused on the character arcs of its new human protagonists, played byAnthony RamosandDominique Fishback, even the Transformers itself rather than simply creating lengthy, eye-popping action setpieces of Bay’s movies.
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Transformers: Rise of the BeastsWill Pack Plenty Into Its Under 2-Hour Runtime
That’s not to say action will take a back seat, of course, as the film adapts the fan-favoriteBeast Warssaga.Rise of the Beastswill see ex-military tech expert-turned-family man Noah Diaz (Ramos) and artifact researcher Elena Wallace (Fishback) taken on a journey to save the world with the Autobots that willbring them into conflictwith the incomingMaximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons. Audiences will also see the big screen debut of one of the franchise’smost iconic and frightening villains- Unicron. Throughout theTransformerscartoon, there was no threat bigger, figuratively and literally, than this massive bot with the power to consume realities. This is all to say there will be no shortage of spectacle within that sub-2-hour runtime.
An all-star cast is also set to voice the bots, includingPeter Cullenreturning to voice Optimus Prime once again andRon Perlmanopposite himas Optimus Primal.Peter Dinklage,Liza Koshy,Michelle Yeoh,Cristo Fernández,John DiMaggio,David Sobolov, andMichaela Jaé Rodriguezare also on to lend their voices withLuna Lauren VélezandTobe Nwigwealso appearing in live-action.
Transformers: Rise of the Beastsreleases in theaters on June 9. Check out the trailer below:
