A still from Bumblebee.
The yellow-black autobot Bumblebee is getting his own movie and the trailer is here. Following the critical and financial disaster of Transformers: The Last Knight, the future of the Transformers universe is uncertain. However, we are surely getting at least one more Transformers movie, and that is Bumblebee. One of the most popular autobots (probably second most after Optimus Prime), Bumblebee is the embodiment of the adage that states, “Size doesn’t matter.”
The Transformers spinoff film, which is the first live-action film in the franchise that is not directed by Michael Bay, is set in the 1980s and stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena. The film seems to have a much smaller scale considering it is still a Transformers film. Looking at the quality of recent films in the franchise, this may be a blessing in disguise.
Hailee Steinfeld plays the role of Charlie Watson, a teenaged girl who discovers the rundown Volkswagen Beetle that’s actually Bumblebee. The film appears to be centred on the relationship between Charlie and Bumblebee. Charlie had previously spoken to Collider.com about the movie and her role. “It’s very character and storyline driven, which is a bit different, but it still has the elements that Transformers fans love and will see in the movie… I play a character named Charlie Watson, who is a mechanic. She’s in high school. [She’s] incredibly unique and strong and has – something I love about her is that a lot of people tend to underestimate her knowledge and she continuously proves herself and what she knows and creates this incredible relationship with this Transformer,” she said.
Travis Knight, known for Kubo and the Two Strings, directs the film. Here is the official synopsis, “On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee 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.”
Bumblebee will release on December 21 this year.