Hailee Steinfeld Shares Details About Transformers 'Bumblebee' Spinoff
After ten years, five Michael Bay films and a series of numb-waning theatrical experiences, there’s a high probability that any ounce of remaining goodwill reserved for Paramount's upcoming Transformers spin-off has been squandered to franchise resentment.
Thanks a lot Michael Bay
On December 21, 2018 - this time next year -Transformers purists and fan casuals will get their chance to see if Travis Knight’s Bumblebee spin-off will spawn a new and innovative chapter in Michael Bay's fatigued action series or merely fizzle as a lackluster contributor to Paramount's $4.4 billion dollar tent-pole. I’m inclined to say we’ll experience the former but your gut feeling is just as questionable as mine.
For those teetering on the verge of optimism (some of you have to be at least curious right?), perhaps there's reason to believe Paramount’s Bumblebee movie will actually be ‘good’!? I mean, the proverbial bar could not be set any lower and last checked, it was 2007 since Bay delivered a debatably competent Transformers experience. Dangle the names of Oscar-nominated talents Travis Knight (ParaNorman, Coraline) and actress Hailee Steinfeld (Pitch Perfect, True Grit), and maybe, just maybe this spin-off featuring America’s (and China’s) favorite yellow VW bug could inject some much needed life into this terrible series?
We like Hailee Steinfeld
Speaking with IGN, the 21-year old Hailee Steinfeld shared some nuggets about the upcoming film including some cautious optimism about the film’s potential success and the opportunity to create a new vision that’s faithful to Transformers canon:
“I think that we'll see how [Bumblebee] does, how people receive it and how it turns out and then hopefully start the conversation and what happens after that. I liked the opportunity of creating something new and different but obviously it is under the same roof of these films that I am a fan of." shared Steinfeld. "It's very character-driven and storyline-driven, which is good. I think will be interesting to see it play out because you still get the action and the Transformers themselves. There's a whole lot in it for the Transformers fans that I think they'll love, but it's definitely about storyline and characters.”
Travis Knight, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind 2016’s captivating Kubo and the Two Strings will make his live-action debut, directing Steinfeld and WWE superstar John Cena in a 80's prequel spin-off featuring 17-year-old Charlie Watson (Steinfeld) who discovers a battle-scarred Bumblebee hiding out in a junkyard in a small California beach town. John Ortiz (Blackhat!) was a late addition to the cast and word on the street has it the voice of Optimus Prime, portrayed by Peter Cullen, also has a role.
According to Steinfeld, Bumblebee posed its fair set of challenges for both her and filmmaker Travis Knight: [/i][i]“It was definitely a process. With his [Knight’s] background in animation, he was able to see, visually, a final product. It was nice to have somebody that could verbally translate what that was. But it was difficult. It was hard, I think, for both of us to sort of maneuver,” she explained. “Not only was this something completely new to me but it was something completely new to him and a different, you know, a different way."
I know we have a LONG ways to go until December 2018 but consider me in the minority here; I’m rooting for Knight and Steinfeld and believe Bumblebee: The Movie could be the best film of the entire franchise. I know, it’s hot. Red hot. What’s yours eh?
Bumblebee: The Movie is written by Christina Hodson (Unstoppable, Shut in) and stars John Cena, John Ortiz, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi (JUDGE LANCE F-N ITO), and Rachel Crow.
