According to a report from Deadline, Paramount Pictures is officially working on a new animated "Transformers" movie that will tie in to the live-action films directed by Michael Bay. The report also states that the film's script will be written by "Ant-Men" writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari.
However, no release date or director has yet been attached to the project. It is also uncertain if voice actor Peter Cullen will return to reprise his role as Optimus Prime.
Deadline reports that the animated feature will be a prequel and will center on the events that occurred in Cybertron, home of the Autobots and Decepticons. It is likely that the film will focus on the war between Optimus Prime and Megatron.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" introduced the Quintessons, creators of the Transformers, without actually showing them in the movie. It is also possible that their story and how they made the Autobots and Decepticons with the All-Spark will be explored in the upcoming animated film.
It will also be the first animated feature film to hit theaters since the 1986 "Transformers" movie, which killed off a majority of the main characters including Optimus Prime, while focusing on new heroes as they struggled against the planet-eating Transformer known as Unicron.
The decision is a result of the reported writers' meeting that was held for two weeks. This meeting included "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman, Ken Nolan, Christina Hodson, Lindsey Beer, Zak Penn, Matt Holloway, Art Marcum, Jeff Pinker, Geeva Robertson-Dworet and Steve DeKnight.
The Paramount's writers' meetings was reportedly held to create an expansive cinematic universe for the "Transformers" franchise, which would include the Michael Bay films, the animated film, and other potential spin-offs. The report does not state how many spin-offs have been finalized from this writers' meeting.
An update on the report also states that Michael Bay is still uncertain about directing the fifth live-action "Transformers" movie. The director has just finished his latest film titled "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi."
