{"id":602973,"date":"2026-09-01T21:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/602973\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T21:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T21:20:08","slug":"peter-cullens-final-optimus-prime-role-set-for-new-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/602973\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Cullen&#8217;s Final Optimus Prime Role Set for New Short"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/peter-cullen-optimus-prime-in-transformers-dies-at-85\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The late Peter Cullen<\/a>\u2019s final vocal performance as Optimus Prime will be in a new animated short film, Optimus Prime: Awakening, that will be presented following select 40th anniversary screenings of <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/movies\/transformers-the-movie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Transformers: The Movie<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Hasbro and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fathomentertainment.com\/news\/fathom-entertainment-announces-the-transformers-the-movie-theatrical-rerelease\/\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Fathom Entertainment<\/a> announced the short film Tuesday: <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cOptimus Prime: Awakening is a fully realized, 12-minute animated short designed as a love letter to the Transformers community and the late Peter Cullen, the legendary talent and voice of Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime: Awakening builds on the acclaimed storytelling and visuals of The Transformers: The Movie (1986), giving audiences the rare opportunity to experience the iconic cultural moment from the franchise\u2019s past while exploring its future on the big screen.\u201d <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Hasbro and Fathom said, \u201cPeter\u2019s performance [in Optimus Prime: Awakening] reveals a deeper vulnerability while retaining the unmistakable strength and authority that made his portrayal iconic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Check out the key art for Optimus Prime: Awakening below.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/2026\/09\/01\/optimus-prime-awakening-poster-1788288196753.jpg\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Frank Welker, who voices Optimus Prime\u2019s archenemy Megatron in the film, praised his late co-star in a statement:<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cOptimus Prime and Megatron were made for each other. After all, one needs the perfect hero against the epitome of evil to create great drama. Peter\u2019s portrayal of Prime was born of his own personal beliefs; honesty, loyalty, and always insisting on doing the right thing.  This made it easy to be friends. Returning as Megatron and Soundwave for one final story opposite Peter\u2019s Optimus in Optimus Prime: Awakening was a real gift. I will miss my friend, but that voice and his heart and values will always be part of Optimus Prime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/peter-cullen-optimus-prime-in-transformers-dies-at-85\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Peter Cullen died<\/a> August 26 at the age of 85.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Transformers: The Movie returns to theatres internationally in 4K from September 17\u201322, 2026. Fathom has just announced new screenings in France, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Peru.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Fans can also now <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/1986-transformers-the-movie-40th-anniversary-4k-steelbook-edition-where-to-buy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pre-order The Transformers: The Movie 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition steelbook<\/a>, which will be available on November 17 in both 4K UHD and Blu-ray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The late Peter Cullen\u2019s final vocal performance as Optimus Prime will be in a new animated short film,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[146,85,46,397],"class_list":["post-602973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}