RED CARPET PREMIERE RECAP
Disclosure: Ben's World of Transformers would like to offer its most sincere thanks to Paramount Pictures and Hasbro Inc. for the invite to both the movie premiere and the Red Carpet event.
On June 5, 2023 Paramount Pictures held a Red Carpet Premiere event for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in New York City's Kings Theater. Parts of the film are set in Brooklyn, and its two primary human protagonists are from that borough which made the Kings Theater the ideal place for this premiere. According to the theater's Wikipedia Article, the theater was opened as a movie palace in 1929 and had a long life as an entertainment venue until its closer in 1977. As the neighborhood degraded, so did the theater until renovations were finally undertaken in 2010. They finished in 2015 and the theater reopened as a performance venue (tours are also offered on specific days of the week). This gorgeous theater features amazing mold work, beautiful lighting and when it shows movies it only features one movie at a time on a giant screen.
I had personally taken a tour of this theater a couple years ago and I fell in love with it so I was thrilled to come back for this event. As a bonus, I live in New Jersey so driving to the venue only took about an hour each way, a small sacrifice for such a grand event!
I arrived at the Kings Theater hours before the event to get parking. Parking New York City is challenging (to say the least) so extra caution is always warranted. Upon arrival I saw the crews working quickly to get the Red Carpet and press area together. Barriers were set up to keep people away and security was tight, with each entrance covered by at least one guard. Residents of the area were running up and taking pics (how could you not, right?) so eventually the work crews put up a chain link fence to block the view so they could finish. I managed to get a few shots before they did this (you can see them in the gallery below).
Hours later, I met up with a friend. We then linked up with my Paramount representative who shepherded us to our spot on the Red Carpet. Other friends were there as well and it became this unique, once in a lifetime gathering of fans I have known for years (ranging from a couple years to over a decade). Here we were, mostly fanboys (most from Brooklyn) and now we were on the Red Carpet of a Hollywood blockbuster premiere!
As I looked around, I saw the parking lot of the theater had been converted into an area for the press (think Entertainment Tonight etc.). Each venue had their own spot in a central area. Around them was a walking path that had been decorated with graffiti style paintings of Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal on the walls. The Mirage car and robot mode statue were also both in the back for photo ops by the VIPs attending the event. While we fans could see them in the distance, we could not go up to them to take photos. I am not going to complain, I was just honored to be there!
90's Hip Hop blasted through speakers as trivia questions were asked and prizes were distributed (mostly 3-Step "Smash Changer" Optimus Prime and Primal figures). Also on hand was Spot, the robotic "dog" by Boston Dynamics. The robotic animal marched back and forth and even did some dancing!
In time, the actors began to arrive! I won't go into detail as you can see all the interviews in my video below!
Shortly after the actors had all come through the interview stage, we were welcomed into the theater. To call the interior of the theater grand would be an understatement. You can see a couple photos below and a bit of the interior in my video above. It is simply spectacular inside! A DJ spun 90's music on stage as we waited for the show to begin. Once it did, we were all off on a collective adventure to 1994 (the year the movie is set).
The audience was a mix of actors, producers, directors, fans, influencers and press. As the film started, a wonderful thing happened. Each time a character appeared (be they human or Cybertronian) the audience would cheer for them, which I found to be a very nice way of showing the actors appreciation since they were in the room. The crowd really enjoyed the film. The jokes landed well and the audience really got into the action scenes. When a specific crucial scene began to the beat of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" the audience absolutely lost its mind, cheering so loud you couldn't even hear the explosion special effects in the scene! This kind of roar would happen again during the first of two credits sequences. The energy in the room was absolutely amazing!
When the film ended we were all rushed out of the theater fairly quickly so I did not have much time to take any additional photos. I did make sure to take at least one more shot outside of the gorgeous theater and its marquee lit up with the title of a Transformers film. It was a sight I never thought I would see! I was grateful to have had such an experience and with friends to boot. What a wonderful experience!
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is currently in theaters.
