In a little under a year’s time, the Transformers franchise will return to the big screen for the first live-action spinoff – and first instalment not to be directed by Michael Bay – in Bumblebee: The Movie, and thanks to a scan from Empire we have our very first official images, which features Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson alongside the fan favourite Autoboy in his classic G1 VW Beetle mode…
“I wanted to approach this massive, expansive franchise and really focus in on a tiny corner of the canvas,” said director Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings). “Everything I’ve tried to do at Laika, searching for an artful blend of darkness and light, intensity and warmth, humour and heart, I wanted to bring to the Transformers franchise. At its core it’s just a beautiful love story between two broken souls who find each other and heal each other. I grew up loving those classic Spielbergian Amblin films. And we’re trying to evoke that kind of emotion in this movie, fusing a rich coming-of-age story with some sci-fi insanity.”
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: The Movie is directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings), and stars Hailee Steinfeld (Edge of Seventeen), Pamela Adlon (Better Things), John Cena (Daddy’s Home 2), Stephen Schneider (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), Grace Dzienny (Zoo) and John Ortiz (Kong: Skull Island). It is set for release on December 21st 2018.
