The tagline for the first spin-off in the Transformers franchise is “Every Adventure Has A Beginning.” That’s a little ironic since it looks like Bumblebee will be the end of the line for the Bay-verse Transformers. The film, which stars Hailee Steinfeld, opens December 21st, and will be the first live-action Transformers film directed by someone other than Bay. Travis Knight will be helming the film, but as the trailer hearkens back to the original Transformers movie, the franchise is at a crossroads.
Transformers: The Last Knight was the fourth horrible sequel in a row for Transformers, but the first one that actually managed to underperform at the box office for Paramount. Two weeks ago, the studio removed the planned seventh Transformers film from their schedule for 2019. Hasbro, which owns the rights to the franchise, is reportedly looking to reboot the franchise with greater creative control over content, which will require a renegotiation with Paramount before proceeding with future installments. More from Coming Soon below.
Directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings), the film stars Hailee Steinfeld (Edge of Seventeen), Pamela Adlon (Better Things), John Cena (Daddy’s Home 2), Stephen Schneider (Comedy Central’s Broad City), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Jason Drucker (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul), Kenneth Choi (American Crime Story), Ricardo Hoyos (Degrassi: Next Class), Abby Quinn (Landline), Rachel Crow (Deidra & Laney Rob a Train), and Grace Dzienny (Zoo).
On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.
The film is produced by Transformers franchise veterans Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Michael Bay, along with executive producers Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. Chris Brigham (Argo, Inception) will also executive produce. The screenplay is written by Christina Hodson (Unforgettable).
Bumblebee will be released in the U.S. on December 21, 2018.