Paramount continues to double-down on its Autobots business. Angel Manuel Soto, the director of last year's teen drama Charm City Kings, is set to direct a new standalone Transformers film, per The Hollywood Reporter. Marco Ramirez is attached to write the script.While plot details are being kept under wraps, the project is being developed outside of the universe established by previous mainline Transformers movies. The story will not connect to Michael Bay's five movies or the Travis Knight's 2018 spin-off Bumblebee.This marks another premiere project for Soto, a rising talent in Hollywood. Last month, it was reported that the director would helm DC's Blue Beetle movie. Production on the superhero film is set to begin in the fall.
Like Soto, Ramirez has also worked on comic book adaptations, having written for Netflix's Daredevil and served as co-creator and co-showrunner on the streamer's culmination team-up series The Defenders. He also developed The Twilight Zone reboot with Simon Kinberg and Jordan Peele.Every Autobot and Decepticon in the Live-Action Transformers MoviesSoto's film is the latest development in Paramount's commitment to positioning Transformers as one of the studio's flagship properties. Paramount and Hasbro's eOne are already developing another Transformers movie that will serve as the seventh entry in the franchise's mainline series. Creed II director Stephen Caple Jr. will helm the project, which is scheduled to release on June 24, 2022.
An animated prequel to Michael Bay's films set on Cybertron is also in the works with Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley attached. Additionally, Nickelodeon and eOne are developing a new Transformers animated series, which will consist of 26 half-hour episodes.
J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.