As most of you probably haven’t heard, the 40 year long running Transformers
franchise released some months ago a new theatrical animated movie called
“Transformers One”. A telling of the unknown humble origins of Optimus
Prime and Megatron, the two courageous leaders of the Autobot and
Decepticon battalions before the Civil War, back when they were known as
Orion Pax and D-16. Once together as brothers-in-arms, their conflicting
ideologies would forge them into mortal enemies, forever altering the course
of their planet’s history. Such an amazingly written, emotional, action-filled
coming of age story, you’d think that the theaters would be packed with people
to go see it!. . . It’s not. Quite the contrary, the movie has tragically failed in the
box office, all because the marketing that it needed was basically non-
existent, leaving the movie to rust. 
Let’s talk about the fall of “Transformers One”.

–>Where it all began
‘Before everything there was passion’
“Transformers One” is an American animated science fiction action film
based on Hasbro’s 1980’s Transformers toy line. It was directed by former
Pixar animator and filmmaker Josh Cooley, written by Eric Pearso, Andrew
Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari and conducted by Brian Tyler. Accompanying them is
the phenomenal CGI-animation of studio ” Industrial Light & Magic “. With full
production reported from the mid-2020 and finally being released on
September 20 2024 with a budget of only 75$ million (minuscule compared to
other recent films).
The story takes place on Cybertron, where after a ravaging war with invader
species, the Cybertronians were forced underground for decades, with its
lowest class of citizens desperately mining from birth for the last of their
planet’s resources. There we open the story with Orion Pax, an optimistic,
eager but reckless bot, and D-16, a protective, law-abiding miner and Orion’s
best friend, trying to get his friend off his own mess. Their personalities
bounce off each other really well. The first hoping to better their lives by trying
to uncover their lost history and showing to Cybetron that miner-bots are more
than meets the eye, while the second trying to follow protocol, living a quiet
life in the promise that their leader will one day save their race and their half-
dead planet. Although, after a few hiccups and plenty of Orion’s reckless
plans the pair, along with some unlikely companions, find themselves in the

search for the truth about the Great War and what really happened to their
people.
It all began as a light-heated adventure, until the coat of lies start to unravel,
and the characters hit their turning point (as well as the tone of the story). The
gears slowly shift into place as one shall rise into a beacon of hope and the
other shall fall into madness. One embracing the right for freedom and one
lusting for revenge. From the very first trailer, from the pro-existing media we
know what to expect, but everything from their wholesome friendship leading
up to their inevitable fallout just makes the end hit so much harder.

“Transformers One” not only is a exciting and fun movie but also
an expertly written tragedy of two brothers, the ideals classing with each other
over true justice. A story that could be this well executed without their
amazing voice actors. It’s seemingly expected celebrity voice cast surpassed
all expectations! Especially Chris Hemsworth’s performance as Orion Pax and
Optimus Prime, respecting the original voice of Petter Cullen and bringing
youthfulness to the character, as well as Brian Tyree Henry’s delivery as D-16
Megatron, stealing the spotlight, giving his all and encapsulating his role
perfectly. Along with the cast if Keegan-Micheal Key, Scarlet Johansson,
Steve Buscemi, John Ham and more, “Transformers One” brought forward the
true heart of a transformer, painting them not as mindless war machines but
as people with real emotions and struggles like us.

…But not that the world really cared or anything.

–>Marketing? Never heard of it
‘You know it’s bad when fans of the franchise refuse to go see it’
As I exclaimed at the beginning, this movie’s existence flew over most
people’s heads. Or to better phrase it, while the majority wasn’t aware, a good
minority actively chose not to see it. WHY? Because the marketing not only
undersold the movie, but it promoted it as something it isn’t, a simple-minded
kid’s comedy with over-the-top cringey 2000’s humor and a meaningless
forced plot. Yes, the movie has humor but it took itself seriously when it
needed to, unlike the marketing! When the first trailer dropped, it focused on
the silly, consumable parts, showing little to no respect to the story and its
source material. Not to mention the trailer’s composition was a hot pile of
scrap metal (in my very humble opinion). The first impression, for fans and
general audiences, was bad. The public assumed the worst from the get-go
and the two next trailers only reassured them that was the case. Other than
the bellow-average trailers, the official marketing boiled down to some very
few short-lived adds that kept on replaying the same “funny” clips from the

trailers and a spoonful of shorts about the celebrity voice casting (by which
many fans were taken aback from).
And that’s about it for America ‘cause in Europe… there was absolutely
nothing! (Other than the poorly-translated trailers that is). In fact, the movie’s
theatrical debut started on September 20 on the US but took till early October
to reach most European countries. An executive decision that worsened its
image and slowed down the movie’s income massively. Beyond the
aforementioned trailers and horrific release schedule, the final nail in the coffin
must have been its overwhelming competition. “Transformers One” released
only a week apart from ‘The Wild Robot” very closely to “Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice” and “Joker 2”, all of which were huge box office hits with each
one surpassing 35$ million in their first week. In its own opening week
“Transformers One” rolled out with 24,6$ million, a very disappointing number
in comparison. Due to the constant taking down by theaters from low demand
and its sort-lived theatrical run in favor for it’s absurdly early digital release,
this amazing production barely broke even, earning 128.7$ million. Not even
double its initial budget, coming in last from every other Transformers movie
compared in worldwide revenue.

–>This movie must be saved, at all cost

“Transformers One” had a very rough start and an even rougher
journey… but it wasn’t all for nothing. This film has made a name for itself in
the movie industry for being one of the best quality movies to ever be
considered a flop. Yes, as many general critics and movie-goers agree that
this animated feature immediately stands out from its many live action
cousins, due to its great story that’s surprisingly mature for this franchise. This
opinion also being backed up by its terrific score of Certified Fresh on Rotten
Tomatoes, with an 89% from critics and an outstanding 90% from over 1.000
fans!
“Transformers One” is the embodiment of a movie the Transformers
fans could only wish for in recent years: A heartfelt but emotionally deep and
conflicting story, with the Autobots and the Desepticons taking center stage
instead of the humans (for once). The fans saw this as proof that these robots
had more than enough emotion for an impactful story and decided they
couldn’t let it fade into obscurity. There began the word-of mouth advertising,
the dragging of their friend and family to the cinemas and all the social-media
fan-promotion. But one stood taller than them all. A fellow fan on Twitter
known as TFHypeGuy took it upon himself to make sure this movie got the
recognition it deserved. For his Twitter campaign of #SaveTFOne &

TFWeekend the plan was simple.

As he said in his interview : “I have no bot, I just scroll… see what tweets are
being picked up by the algorithm, and try and come up with something,” he
says. “It started with [Joker: Folie à Deux] posts… Then branched out into
whatever ridiculous thing I see”. As ridiculous as it may sound, his admirable

dedication worked, as shown by the visible hype online about “Transformers
One”.

–>The Light in the Darkest Hour
Unfortunately, even with this group effort from the fans, the end results speak
for themselves. The fans’ self-marketing simply wasn’t enough to make
“Transformers One” a financial success. But, their persistence during and
after its official run influenced its general image massively. Even the
production itself acknowledged this effort, along with thanking TFHypeGuy for
his services.
That being said, there is a slim hope for the future. New information regarding
the movie’s initial 75$ million budget says that it was split in three between
Paramount, Hasbro and New Republic, lessening the amount that Paramount
has possibly lost in the production. Hasbro president also reveals that there
have been talks with Josh Cooley, director of “Transformers One”, about new
potential films for the Transformers franchise, alongside the already
announced Transformers & G.I. Joe crossover on the big screen, staring Chris
Hemsworth (notably the voice of Orion Pax in TFOne). Last but not least,
“Transformers One” not only has been nominated for the Astra Awards, but
was once also officially eligible to be nominated for an Oscar!
All of the above and the constant support and nagging from the fandom for a
sequel, there might still be some hope for a continuation someday. Untill then,
if I managed to persuade you, I wholeheartedly recommend watching
“Transformers One”, a movie that’s so much more than meets the eye.