Hasbro
The Apology Tour · 40th Anniversary · Fathom Entertainment
The 2026 run:
dates, markets and 4DX
The Transformers: The Movie returned to cinemas on 17 September 2026, restored in 4K, in eight confirmed countries, with an all-new post-credits chapter made for the event. This page is the record: the real date window, every market, where 4DX played, and what the collectible concessions were.
The short answer
The run opened Thursday 17 September 2026, Transformers Day. Fathom’s press release called it a 17 to 21 September run, but Fathom’s own ticketing page was selling dates well past that, and hundreds of cinemas worldwide kept the film on after the planned close, some listing shows through 7 October, according to Dark Horizons. Box Office Mojo counted $4,156,531 domestic after the first four days from 1,454 locations. We have not confirmed a final total.
To see the film now, rent it in HD or buy a disc. The 40th Anniversary DVD streets 13 October and the 4K steelbook 17 November.
Read this first
Five days, or fifteen?
This is the one thing worth getting right before you book, and it is the one thing every other write-up has wrong, because they all restated the same press release.
The Hasbro and Fathom announcement of 24 July 2026 describes a five-night run, 17 to 21 September. Fathom’s campaign hub says the same. But the page that actually sells the tickets, the Fathom release page, renders date tabs for fifteen nights, 17 September through 1 October, alongside a separate 4DX tab. It ran to 23 September when we first checked it, and the descriptive copy on that same page still read “six days only, September 17–22”. Checked again 10 September 2026.
The explanation was straightforward: the event had been extended since the announcement and the marketing copy had not caught up. That happens routinely with Fathom runs when presales are strong. It is also possible the extra tabs are regional overflow for markets that start late.
How it ended
The announcement said 17 to 21 September and Fathom’s ticketing page showed dates to 1 October. Dark Horizons then reported hundreds of cinemas keeping the film on past the planned close, some listing shows through 7 October. We did not track which cinemas held it or for how long.
Where it plays
Eight confirmed countries
These eight were named directly in the announcement. Fathom added that “additional markets to be announced”, so treat this as the floor rather than the final list.
| Country | 4DX | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4DX | Widest release. Collectible concessions at participating theatres. |
| Canada | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. Cineplex and Landmark carry most Fathom events. |
| United Kingdom | 4DX | The only market outside the US confirmed for 4DX. |
| Ireland | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
| Australia | Standard + 4K | Event Cinemas is listing the event locally. |
| New Zealand | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
| Mexico | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
| Germany | Standard + 4K | Confirmed in the announcement. |
What 4DX actually does to this film
4DX is a motion-seat format with environmental effects, wind, water, strobes, fog and scent, choreographed against the picture. It is confirmed for the United States and United Kingdom only.
On most catalogue titles 4DX is a novelty. On this one it is a genuinely different proposition, because the film is essentially one long action sequence: the shuttle boarding, the Autobot City siege, the Sharkticon pit, the plunge into Unicron. It is also an eighty-four minute film, so it never outstays the format. If you have a 4DX screen within reach, this is one of the better catalogue titles to spend it on.
Booking
How tickets were sold
Tickets went on sale 7 August 2026 through Fathom’s event page, which needed a location set before its showtime grid appeared, and through the chains: Fandango and AMC, Cinemark and Regal in the US, Cineplex in Canada, ODEON in the UK and Event Cinemas in Australia. Fandango also kept a live event page from the 35th anniversary re-release. Those were the routes for the 2026 run, and we have not checked whether any cinema still lists showtimes.
In the auditorium
What is in the screening
The film, restored in 4K
The original 1986 theatrical film, not a re-edit. Nothing has been re-animated, no scenes have been added into the body of the picture, and the cut is the one you know. If you have only ever seen it on a fullscreen home video transfer, note that the film was animated 4:3 and matted in projection, so a cinema presentation actually shows you less vertical picture than your DVD did, framed the way it was meant to be seen.
An all-new post-credits chapter
The single genuinely new piece of material, created specifically for this theatrical event and first shown at San Diego Comic-Con on 24 July 2026. It plays after the credits, so do not walk out. Hasbro’s tagline for it is “Every Epic Saga Has a Secret. As This Journey Ends, a New One Begins.”
Neither Hasbro nor Fathom has said what happens in it, and no studio, director or writer has been credited for it anywhere. Anyone telling you what is in it is guessing. We are tracking it on the post-credits page, which we will update the day it screens.
Collectible popcorn buckets and drinkware
Hasbro and Fathom confirmed exclusive collectible concessions for the event, including popcorn buckets and specialty drinkware. The caveats are the ones that always apply and they matter here: participating theatres in the United States only, while supplies last, and purchase limits may apply. No other market was named.
Fathom concession exclusives on popular titles routinely clear out inside the first weekend.
There is now a retail alternative, and it is a different object from the Fathom one. Target is selling a light up Optimus Prime popcorn bucket built by CultureFly at $24.99, an ordinary stocked product with a barcode and a shipping option, so you can have one without a ticket. We covered it here.
After the run
The disc you actually want
If you saw it in a cinema and want it on a shelf, the picture is clear. Shout! Factory has the 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 4K UHD steelbook up for pre-order, two discs, dated 17 November 2026, and both of them carry a new Dolby Atmos mix with Dolby Vision on the 4K. We have been asking for that ever since the 35th Anniversary steelbook, so this one is easy to point you at.
The price is not the same everywhere and that matters here. Shout’s own storefront has it at $39.99, Amazon has the identical set at $49.98, so it is worth thirty seconds of comparison before you commit to either.
There is a cheaper way in. The DVD streets earlier, 13 October, at $15.99, and it carries the full legacy extras package (two outlets reported it as a bare disc, having worked that out from the 85 minute runtime, and they were wrong). If you just want the film on your shelf, that is the one. If you want it to look and sound like 2026, wait the extra five weeks.
One line on disc two of the steelbook we cannot let pass: “Animated Coda (TBD) (2026)”. Shout has not said what it is. We are not going to tell you it is the post-credits chapter you are about to watch in the cinema, because nobody official has said so, but a brand new 2026 animated piece landing on the release that follows the theatrical run is a lot of coincidence for one line of a spec sheet.
Before you go
The tie-ins worth knowing about
Hasbro has built a whole product wave around the anniversary. The one named directly in the Fathom announcement is the Matrix replica, which is about as on-the-nose a merchandising decision as the company has ever made given what the Matrix does in this film.
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Soundtrack
Figures
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Questions
Everything people ask
It opened on Thursday 17 September 2026, Transformers Day, and hundreds of cinemas kept it on past the planned close, some listing shows through 7 October according to Dark Horizons. We have not seen a later date. To watch it now, rent it in HD or buy a disc. The 40th Anniversary DVD streets 13 October and the 4K steelbook on 17 November.
Longer. The announcement issued on 24 July 2026 said 17 to 21 September, and Fathom’s ticketing page showed dates well past that, to 1 October. Hundreds of cinemas then kept the film on after the planned close. How long any one cinema held it was its own decision.
Eight markets were named in the announcement: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Germany. Fathom added that further markets would be announced, so the list may have grown since.
4DX was confirmed for the United States and the United Kingdom only. No other market was named for the format. 4DX adds motion seats and environmental effects such as wind, water and scent, timed to the picture, which on this film means the Autobot City battle and the Unicron sequences in particular.
It is the original 1986 animated film, restored in 4K. It has not been re-edited or re-animated. The one piece of genuinely new material is a post-credits chapter created specifically for this theatrical event, which is not part of the film itself and plays after the credits.
Yes. Hasbro and Fathom confirmed exclusive collectible concessions including popcorn buckets and specialty drinkware. They were limited to participating theatres in the United States, sold while supplies lasted, and purchase limits applied. They were not announced for any other market. Separately, Target sells a CultureFly light up Optimus Prime popcorn bucket at retail for $24.99, which is a different product and needs no ticket.
Tickets went on sale worldwide on 7 August 2026, both online and at participating box offices.
Yes. Shout! Factory has a 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 4K UHD steelbook up for pre-order, dated 17 November 2026. It is a two disc set, a 4K UHD and a Blu-ray, both carrying a new Dolby Atmos mix, with Dolby Vision on the 4K. Shout lists it at $39.99 on its own storefront and Amazon has the same set at $49.98. A separate DVD edition streets earlier, on 13 October 2026, at $15.99.
It is Hasbro’s name for the campaign. The full event title is "The Transformers: The Movie: The Apology Tour 40th Anniversary Screenings", and the framing is a knowing, forty-years-late apology for what the film did to Optimus Prime. Fathom’s own copy invites you "back to the scene of the crime".
Keep reading
Before the lights go down
At home
Where to watch the 1986 movie
Every streaming, rental and disc route, and what each one costs.
The hubThe Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Scores, cast, the moments, the craft and the full archive.
ReferenceWho dies in the movie
The complete death roster, and the toy-line reason behind it.
ReferenceThe ending, explained
The Matrix, Rodimus, Unicron’s head, and what season 3 did next.
TrackingThe new post-credits chapter
Everything confirmed, and everything that is still speculation.
Physical mediaThe 40th Anniversary disc
Date, price, specs and the extras list other sites got wrong.
The toysThe 1986 movie line
Every figure Hasbro made for the film, and the ones it quietly dropped.
The archiveThe G1 voice cast
Who played whom across 98 episodes, and who came back for the film.