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‘??Transformers’: Prepare For Three More Films, Including Bumblebee Spinoff, Says Hasbro

By Stephen Jordan
Published on: 12:25 PST, Feb 13, 2016

Transformers has been a very successful money making empire, even while the films themselves have been ripped apart by critics and even a fair percentage of fans of the original ’80s cartoon and toys. Hasbro has just announced that there will be three more Transformers films that will be released over the course of the next three years, reports the Los Angeles Times. Michael Bay, who has directed all four of the previous Transformers movies, has been confirmed to return to direct the fifth film, which will be released in June of 2017, and will once again star Mark Wahlberg, who starred in Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Apparently, after this fifth Transformers film, the series will be going in a different direction, by going back in time and telling a prequel story for one of the most popular characters in the franchise, according to a press release from Hasbro.

“On June 8, 2018, a new film is being developed which will tell the never before heard story of Bumblebee, one of the most beloved characters from Hasbro’s Transformers universe.”

The Bumblebee solo-prequel film is set for a June 8, 2018, release date, while the third Transformers project, which is currently unknown, is set to be released on June 28, 2019.

Bumblebee is certainly one of the more popular and interesting characters in the series, so a solo film based on the yellow Camaro makes sense. The third new Transformers film, if it is going to be another prequel, could be focusing on the main protagonist, Optimus Prime, and would make sense given the character’s popularity.

'??Transformers': Prepare For Three More Films, Including Bumblebee Spinoff, Says Hasbro
Bumblebee. [Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Paramount]
Michael Bay’s first Transformers film in 2007 had an opening weekend of $70,502,384, and ended up making $709,709,780 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The 2009 sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, did better in its opening weekend, making $108,966,307. Worldwide, the film gained a total of $836,303,693. In 2011, Transformers: Dark of the Moon became the first movie in the franchise to break over $1 billion worldwide. Though it only brought in $97,852,865 during its opening weekend, it gained $1,123,794,079 across the globe. The fourth film in the franchise, Age of Extinction, only made $245,439,076 domestically, though it absolutely killed overseas, bringing in $858,614,996 with a worldwide total of $1,104,054,072.

Transformers 5 will be competing against Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman, also set for a June 23, 2017, release date, and the Bumblebee spinoff-prequel film will be coming out against Godzilla 2.

In 2014, there were rumors suggesting that Michael Bay was uncertain as to whether or not he wanted to return to direct a fifth film. But obviously since then, the Bad Boys director has been confirmed for the next installment.

“I’m doing Transformers… 5, is it?,” Bay said, during an interview with Rolling Stone. “I’ve taken on a lot of work.”

“The movie industry has really changed. The middle-budget movie is basically gone. They just want these big movies. Transformers, I still have a great time. It’s fun to do a movie that 100 million people will see. But this is the last one. I have to pass the reins to someone else.”

'??Transformers': Prepare For Three More Films, Including Bumblebee Spinoff, Says Hasbro
[Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures]
Bay has said, while promoting Dark of the Moon, that the third film would be his last directorial effort in the Transformers series, and said the same thing while promoting Age of Extinction. But he ensures us this time that this fifth film will truly be his last. There are a few other genres the director would like to try next, like a historical piece, or a thriller, or even a kooky comedy.

The plot for Transformers 5 has not been completely revealed, but there are some sources suggesting that Mark Wahlberg’s character will be teaming up with the Dinobots to battle against some sort of impending doom.

[Image via Paramount Pictures]

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