Chris Hemsworth, the voice of a young Optimus Prime, and Brian Tyree Henry, the voice of a young Megatron, got an enthusiastic welcome at CinemaCon as they introduced a first look and 3D scene from “Transformers One,” Paramount‘s animated origin story based on the Hasbro toys. “This origin story is how they transformed from brothers in arms to sworn enemies,” said Henry from Las Vegas on Thursday.
In the clip, Optimus Prime, Megatron and their friends “proven worthy” are given their powers to transform — and awkwardly get accustomed to using those powers. They then enter a cargo train and for the first time see the surface of their home planet Cybertron, where the movie is set. The stylized look of the surface is a vast environment of rock-like structures that, like the bots, grow and transform.
During the presentation, Hemsworth also paid tribute to Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime for four decades, who he said taught “strength gentleness and compassion.”
The voice cast also includes Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm and Steve Buscemi.
Directing is Josh Cooley, the Pixar alum who won a best animated feature Oscar for “Toy Story 4,” which he helmed and co-wrote. He was also Academy Award nominated as a writer on the “Inside Out” screenplay. Animation is produced at Industrial Light & Magic.
Paramount is set to release “Transformers One” on Sept. 13.
The studio also got cheers as it cited work on the untitled live action Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover film, though additional details weren’t provided. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, Michael Bay, Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy are producing with Steven Spielberg exec producing.
It follows the 2023 “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the seventh movie in the Transformers franchise; and 2021 G.I. Joe origin story “Snake Eyes,” the third movie in that film series.