Bumblebee will have a lot to deal with next month in Transformers: The Last Knight, from the war between the humans and robots in disguise to his old buddy Optimus Prime trying to kill him. We'll have to wait and see what happens to the yellow and black Autobot in the fifth Transformers entry, but fans of the franchise can take comfort known they won't have to wait long to see him back on the big screen. Next year, Bumblebee will lead his own movie, and Paramount may be looking at actress Hailee Steinfeld to lead the spinoff.
Hailee Steinfeld is currently in negotiations to join the Bumblebee movie. Plot details are still being kept secret, but her character was described by THR as being "a tomboy who also holds a job as a mechanic after school." Bumblebee will be the first offshoot of the main Transformers series, with Paramount aiming to transform this franchise (pun fully intended) into a full-blown cinematic universe.
Hailee Steinfeld kicked off her feature film career with a bang in 2010, playing Mattie Ross in the True Grit remake from the Coen Brothers. Since then she's starred in Begin Again, Ender's Game, 3 Days to Kill, Pitch Perfect 2 (and its upcoming follow-up), Barely Lethal and Term Life. Like other Transformers heroines Mikaela Banes and Izabella (who will debut in Transformers: The Last Knight), this tomboy character has a knack for mechanical work, so she may prove valuable to Bumblebee during whatever he's going through in his standalone adventure.
While no official details about the Bumblebee movie have been disclosed to the public yet, Michael Bay revealed last month that the spinoff will "go a little younger" and "deal more with the character." Since producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura also said back in January that the Bumblebee movie will not be a direct sequel to Transformers: The Last Knight, this set up the possibility that the spinoff could actually be a prequel. As seen in previews for The Last Knight, Bumblebee has been active on Earth since World War II, so it's conceivable that we could see what he was up to years before he became Sam Witwicky's protector. For now, though, this idea remains unconfirmed, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend more more news on its progress, including if Hailee Steinfeld's deal is finalized.
Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight is helming the Bumblebee movie, and Unforgettable screenwriter Christina Hodson penned the script. With shooting expected to begin this summer, the spinoff rolls into theaters on June 8, 2018. The sixth main Transformers movie arrives the year after on June 28, 2019, though it remains to be seen whether or not Bumblebee will be back for that installment.
