'Transformers', 'Star Trek' movie release dates delayed by Paramount

Paramount has announced that its upcoming 'Transformers' and 'Star Trek' movies have now been delayed.

According to Variety, 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts', a prequel in the sci-fi action franchise, has moved back a year. It was originally scheduled for June 24, 2022, and will now open on the big screen on June 9, 2023.

The still-untitled 'Star Trek' movie was supposed to premiere on June 9, 2023, but it was delayed to December 22, 2023, to accommodate the shift for 'Transformers'.

The next 'Transformers' chapter is currently scheduled to hit theatres on the same day as an untitled Sony-Marvel blockbuster. 'Star Trek' is opening alongside Disney's 'Star Wars: Rogue Squadron', a Patty Jenkins-directed spinoff set in a galaxy far, far away. Unless one blinks, it'll be a battle of the 'Stars' at the Christmas box office.

Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback are starring in 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts', which is being directed by Steven Caple Jr. ('Creed II'). The movie is set in 1994, but specific plot details have been kept under wraps. 'Transformers', based on the Hasbro toy line, has been commercially successful for Paramount.

The first entry debuted in 2007 and featured Shia LaBeouf as a plucky teenager who finds himself in the middle of an epic battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. Several sequels and one spinoff, 'Revenge of the Fallen' (2009), 'Dark of the Moon' (2011), 'Age of Extinction' (2014), 'The Last Night' (2017) and 'Bumblebee' (2018), followed.

Even less is known about Paramount's next 'Star Trek' instalment including who will star in the film. 'WandaVision' director Matt Shakman is handling filmmaking duties, while Josh Friedman and Cameron Squires are re-writing based on a script by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, as per Variety.

( With inputs from ANI )