Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Adventure & Animation
RatedPG
Runtime1 hr 44 mins
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2024
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorJosh Cooley
StarringChris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson
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Transformers One (2024)
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| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
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| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Transformers One's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure & Animation |
| Rated | PG |
| Released | 09/11/2024 (Sydney); 09/20/2024 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 44 mins |
| Budget | $75–147M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | Hasbro's Transformers action figures |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Transformers One's Interests | |
| General | Energon, mining shifts, transformation cogs, old archives, the first Cybertronians, best friends. |
| Music | Brian Tyler. |
| Movies | Toy Story 4 (2019). Josh Cooley again, still making toys feel things. |
| Television | The Transformers. The 1980s cartoon that turned toy robots into a lifestyle. |
| Heroes | Elita-1. Took the blame for two miners who broke the rules. |
| Transformers One's Crew | |
| Director | Josh Cooley |
| Writers | Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, Andrew Barrer (story), Gabriel Ferrari (story) |
| Producers | Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Michael Bay, Mark Vahradian, Aaron Dem |
| Cinematography | Christopher Batty |
| Music | Brian Tyler |
| Edited By | Lynn Hobson |
| Production | Paramount Animation, Hasbro Entertainment, New Republic Pictures, di Bonaventura Pictures, Bayhem Films |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures |
Transformers One is an origin story, so you know exactly where these two best friends are headed long before they get there. The surprise is how much it hurts anyway. Orion Pax and D-16 are miners on Cybertron, robots built without the cog that lets the others transform, digging Energon under the city of Iacon. Orion is the rule-breaking dreamer, D-16 is the loyal pal who keeps bailing him out, and when a trip to the surface turns up an ugly secret about their leader, Sentinel Prime, neither of them comes back the same. Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry give the friendship real weight, and Henry is especially good. Keegan-Michael Key’s B-127 is a motormouth delight. The late battles get loud and busy enough to wear you out. Still, it’s the best Transformers movie in years. It holds an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore. An 8.1 because the friendship lands and so does the heartbreak. $30.92 says you start ranking which of your friends would crash an illegal race with you strapped to a jetpack.
What works: The friendship between Orion and D-16 has real emotional weight, the animation is gorgeous, and Keegan-Michael Key is very funny as B-127.
What doesn’t: The plot is predictable by design, and the final battles get so busy and loud that the action turns hard to follow.
Who it’s for: Kids who love giant robots, and grown-ups raised on the old cartoon who want its origin story done right.
Spoilers
Sentinel Prime turns out to be a fraud who killed the original Primes and sold out Cybertron. D-16 turns on Orion and leaves him for dead, Orion is reborn as Optimus Prime with the Matrix, and D-16 takes the name Megatron and founds the Decepticons.
On Cybertron, your place in life depends on whether you were built with a transformation cog. Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and his best friend D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) weren't. They're miners in the underground city of Iacon, digging Energon all day. Orion keeps sneaking into the archives to learn about the first Cybertronians, and D-16 keeps bailing him out. When a cave-in hits the mine, the two break the rules to save a coworker, and their supervisor Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) takes the fall. Josh Cooley directs. One hundred four minutes, two best friends, zero cogs.
Anyone with a best friend they'd follow underground. Bring a hard hat.
| Chris Hemsworth | Orion Pax / Optimus Prime |
| Brian Tyree Henry | D-16 / Megatron |
| Scarlett Johansson | Elita-1 |
| Keegan-Michael Key | B-127 |
| Steve Buscemi | Starscream |
| Laurence Fishburne | Alpha Trion |
| Jon Hamm | Sentinel Prime |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 20 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $129.4M; Domestic box office $59.1M; Opening weekend $24.6M; Profit / loss (est.) -$101.8M; Rotten Tomatoes 89%; CinemaScore A; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 89% (170 reviews); Metacritic 65 / 100; CinemaScore A; IMDb users 7.6 / 10 (70,114 votes); movie.guru score 8.3.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 20 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.