Josh Cooley has Cyberton-sized ambitions for Transformers One sequels, as the director of the new animated adventure claims that “there’s definitely more story to tell.” The visionary filmmakers’ latest project wipes the slate clean for the Autobots and the Decepticons as these latest iterations of Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and the evil Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) not only reboot the franchise in their latest big-screen adventure, but their film also opens the door for numerous follow-ups. Cooley explained in an interview with The Wrap:
“There’s definitely more story to tell. We’re used to seeing the story begin once the planet’s dying and they leave for Earth, so there’s a whole war that happens once they break apart and once they leave the planet. So, there’s a lot more story to tell there, and it could be really fun.”
While the crux of Transformers One’s story lies with the touching and tragic origin story of how Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) and D-16 (Megatron) went from being friends to enemies, Cooley is also delighted by the incomparable design elements which makes his new film such a joy to behold aesthetically. The director continued by saying (below):
“Loving the G1 design and knowing that the city needs to be massive, but also just everything’s going well. Cybertron isn’t falling apart at this point, nothing’s dying, so it made me think about Art Deco, which is post the Depression, when everybody, everything was good.
And they’re building these massive buildings in New York and Chicago everywhere that just were all about opulence. And so that was what was the inspiration for Iacon [Cybertron’s capital] itself and just make you feel like everything was being celebrated.”
Transformers One’s Biblical Allusions
Don’t go all LL Cool J and “call it a comeback.” Director Josh Cooley has made it abundantly clear that Transformers One is a straight-up reboot of the franchise. And while he waits to see if sequels will be wanted by the powers-that-be at Paramount Pictures, fans can enjoy an Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) and D-16 (Megatron) origin story that isn’t just compelling, but it’s one that offers allusions to the Bible itself. Cooley also told The Wrap during the same sit-down:
“The thing that got me really interested in this was the idea that being a real tight relationship between the two characters and seeing that relationship fall. If you go Cain and Abel or Ben Hur, Ten Commandments, it just has this epic, legendary tale to it and that would be very cool to Transformers, to give more of an emotional connection.”
“I wanted to make these characters deeper,” Cooley said in the same interview. “And not just ‘I’m a good guy,’ ‘I’m a bad guy,’ but actually bring some real depth to their character and show why they were friends and why they fell apart — to have the audience really understand the situation, and not just because one’s good, one’s bad.”
Unfortunately, the film’s deeply moving themes, allusions and talk of sequels may not mean much if its financials don’t drastically improve. In a shocking turn of events, Transformers One opened No. 2 at the box office over its opening weekend with only $24.6 million. The animated adventure was beaten out by No. 1 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ($25.9 million), and what’s worse is that the Tim Burton movie was in its third weekend of theatrical release. Talk about rolling out in the wrong direction against the ghost with the most!
Transformers One
is now playing in theaters.