After five movies, the Transformers franchise is finally expanding. Bumblebee is getting his very own spinoff film, which is due to arrive in the winter of 2018. The franchise is in need of new life after the underperforming Transformers: The Last Knight and the yellow Autobot might just be the way to do it. The movie is set in the eighties and stars Hailee Steinfeld with Travis Knight directing. We haven't seen much from the movie yet, but Paramount has released the first official image from Bumblebee, which you can check out, below.
Hailee Steinfeld? Check. Volkswagon Beetle? Check. The eighties? Check! Yup, this is our first good look at Bumblebee alright. The image features the title Autobot in car form. Due to the film being set in 1987, Bumblebee is not a Camaro like he is in the main franchise, but is instead a Volkswagen Beetle. This is a reference to his original car form from the Transformers toy line and animated TV show. In addition to Bumblebee, we've also got a good look at Hailee Steinfeld's Charlie. She certainly looks like she's from 1987, thanks in large part to the hairdo.
This picture isn't a very illuminating tease from Paramount, but it is only a first look, after all. Director Travis Knight is promising that Bumblebee will be different from Michael Bay's Transformers movies and that fans can expect more humor and heart from the spinoff. Bumblebee only has to show a little corner of the Transformers world, so it has a bit more liberty than the main Transformers-oriented movies to be different. Fans of Transformers have been waiting for something new from the franchise, and it looks like Bumblebee could be offering them exactly that.
Bumblebee takes place in 1987 where Bumblebee is on the run. Battered and bruised, he takes refuge in a junkyard where he is found by Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), a young mechanic trying to find her place in the world. Charlie ends up reviving Bumblebee and gets a bit more from this VW bug than she was expecting. The movie also stars Pamela Adlon, John Cena, and Stephen Schneider.
Not much else is known about the spinoff, but one would wager that the Decepticons will be involved. As for the Autobots, Optimus Prime may be getting a cameo of his own, but Bumblebee will likely be flying solo for the most part on this adventure.
Bumblebee is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 21, 2018. That's almost a full year away, so you've got plenty of time to visit our comprehensive guide and learn all you can about the Transformers spinoff. There are plenty of other movies arriving in 208 too, so be sure to check out our 2018 movie release guide to learn about them all.
