Transformers: The Last Knight may not be performing quite as well as its predecessors, but that isn't stopping Paramount with rolling out its Transformers franchise with new spinoffs in an attempt to create a cinematic universe. The first spinoff will feature none other than Bumblebee, and with a new spinoff comes an all-new look. Bumblebee's car form is usually a Camaro, but the '80s-set spinoff will find him taking a new disguise that should please those Generation-1 fans. Bumblebee's going classic with the Volkswagen Bug. Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura revealed:
You might even see a VW Bug. You never know.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura was being playfully coy about what's in store for the Bumblebee movie, but you can pretty much guarantee that the yellow Autobot be assuming the form of a Volkswagen Bug. While Bumblebee has taken the form of a Camaro in the previous Transformers films, the character was known for being a VW Bug in toys, cartoons and other media back in the day. That form was even teased in the first Transformers movie. Being a yellow Bug is probably why he's called, you know, Bumblebee in the first place, so the Bumblebee spinoff looks to be getting back to the roots of the Transformers series.
If Lorenzo di Bonaventura's words to Entertainment Weekly hint at anything, it's that the Bumblebee movie could be trying to capture that classic Transformers spirit that the main movies have mostly ignored. It's been revealed that the spinoff will take place in the '80s and will tell an untold adventure of Bumblebee's decades before he met Sam Witwicky. It's important to note that the '80s is when the Transformers rose to popularity, an era that's called Generation-1. It's the most nostalgia-laden period of the series that hasn't ever really been capitalized in the movies, so the Bumblebee movie stands to benefit from providing fans something different.
Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight will helm the Bumblebee standalone tale. Not much is known about the plot, but it will follow Bumblebee in the 1980s as he forms a bond with a teenage girl and then must stop a Decepticon plot without the help of Optimus Prime. The film is said to be taking inspiration from The Iron Giant, meaning this might be the only Transformers film to ever make you cry. Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Edge of Seventeen) is in early talks to play the lead human role who befriends the mute Autobot.
The Bumblebee spinoff is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters June 8, 2018. For more news on the movie and everything Transformers-related, make sure to keep checking back at CinemaBlend, and we'll keep you updated. In the meantime, check out our 2017 movie release schedule to plan the rest of your summer trips to the movie theater.
