Transformers 7 is set in 1994, between the Bumblebee prequel and Michael Bay’s movies. 2007’s blockbuster Transformers, directed by Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, launched the franchise based on the popular 1980s toy line and animated TV show. Since that momentous beginning, the Transformers films have combined to gross $4.8 billion worldwide.
The highly-successful Transformers movie franchise may indeed still be rolling along almost fifteen years after its launch but things are not exactly as they used to be. For starters, Bay is no longer at the series’ helm as director after guiding the first five movies. The last movie in the Transformers line, 2018’s Bumblebee, was actually something of a reboot as it scaled things back budget-wise and also wound back time for a story set in the 1980s and revolving around the titular Bumblebee. For the upcoming Transformers 7, Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. takes over at the helm with a cast that includes Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback and Luna Lauren Velez.
Plot details on Transformers 7 have thus far been hard to come by but a ton of news just arrived via Paramount including an update on the movie’s setting. As it happens, the newest Transformers adventure will take place in the year 1994, placing it squarely between the 1987-set Bumblebee prequel and the Bay films. It was also revealed that the movie is physically set in Brooklyn with some scenes taking place in Peru. Filming is actually going on at Machu Picchu and there is backstory involving the Inca.
Indeed the time frame and physical setting are not the only things changing for the newest Transformers film. As the movie’s official title Transformers: Rise of the Beasts suggests, the film serves as a live-action adaptation of the animated TV series Beast Wars, which took place hundreds of years in the future and depicted Transformers factions descended from the Autobots and Decepticons. Given that Transformers 7 is confirmed to take place in the 1990s, it’s possible there is some kind of time travel element to the story to explain how the Beast Wars versions of the Transformers become involved. It was also previously teased that Optimus Prime is central to Transformers 7 and actually becomes a mentor to Ramos’ lead human character. It’s now been confirmed by Paramount that Optimus Prime is indeed in the movie and will sport his classic G1 design.
The Brooklyn setting for Transformers 7 indeed jibes with what’s been previously revealed about the movie’s lead characters and the idea of Ramos playing a flawed hero in need of redemption. Incidentally, setting the movie in Brooklyn could also give director Caple a chance to pay homage to Spike Lee, several of whose early films take place there. It remains to be seen what the Peru setting has to do with things, but it’s possible that’s where the Beast Wars Transformers come into the picture. As for the early '90s time frame, that obviously gives the film the chance to build on what was introduced in Bumblebee without running into the action of the original Bay films. It also provides a handy explanation for why Optimus Prime and other characters are sporting more classic looks in Transformers 7.
Source: Paramount