Peter Cullen and Frank Welker (aka the legendary voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively) attended this year’s Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo and revealed that they want a live-action first generation Transformers full length film from Paramount.
During their live Q&A panel on Sunday April 28, 2019, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker were both VERY excited at the potential for a full length live-action Generation One Transformers film. Welker acknowledged the Calgary crowd and said that the people drive studio projects and that if the fans wanted it hard enough, that they would both love to be part of a G1 Live-Action Transformers flick. In other words – that 5-minute sequence on Cybertron from the latest Bumbelbee flick — but two hours. Cullen said that he would love to see Paramount greenlight the project with an insane budget of 250 million dollars.
Peter Cullen & Frank Welker @ Calgary Expo 2019 – Photo By Keven Skinner
The idea of an entirely digital “live-action” Transformers film isn’t a pipedream either if you think about the success that Bumblebee has been having, especially with the critics who have been harsh to the film franchise in the past. It would be a wildly expensive film and most if not all, would likely be digitally animated considering the characters and backgrounds they play in (ala outer space, Cybertron and other wild planets etc). I for one think this would be an amazing idea and as a lifelong fan of the Transformers — an easy sell. People would come out to see that film in droves….
One of the most unexpected but welcome highlights of the panel for me included the camaraderie between Cullen and Welker — just seeing them joke around with one another for an hour. To witness these two voice performance icons having a great time duelling back and forth as their iconic characters was one of the most joyful experiences I’ve ever had at a convention. At one point both Cullen and Welker were barking at each other as various breeds of dogs in one of the most bizarre and hilarious panel moments of the entire weekend. The coolest moment for me however was watching Welker provide the entire voice evolution of Megatron from G1, through Prime, to the live-action films without missing a beat. It was an incredible display of vocal talent and fascinating to hear that evolution of the villain from the man himself.
There should be a reality show or documentary about Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. I mean — look at them. Adorable.
Photo By Keven Skinner