Bumblebee In US Theaters Today, New Clips

A friendly reminder that Bumblebee is now in US theaters. Some other countries either already have it or will be getting it soon. In the meantime below is a clip of the fight between 'Bee and Blitzwing. After that is Hailee Steinfeld on Jimmy Fallon with another clip. Additionally below are a few quotes from an io9 article about developing the story for movie. In short it basically confirms (as if any doubt), that this is a prequel to the Bay films.

“If we’re going to tell an origin story about a Transformer, it made sense we would set it in the era that the Transformers originated, the mid-’80s,” [writer Christina] Knight told io9. “Which is perfect for me because that’s when I was exposed to them. I was a child of that era and it was an opportunity to go back and draw some of these aspects of my childhood that really meant a lot to me.”

The movie hasn’t changed a whole lot since I first pitched in summer of 2015,” Hodson, who is also writing the upcoming Birds of Prey and Batgirl, told io9. “I pitched it then and obviously they went and made the other movie. Then I wrote the first draft of this in the fall of 2016 and it honestly has stayed true. Certainly, the big broad strokes of the emotional journeys, key set pieces, all remain the same. Now, it’s gotten bigger in some ways. We’ve added more fun. We got to go to Cybertron! But the heart of it really remained the same.”

“The important thing was not only that it had some connective tissue with the films Michael has made but that it had some deep connective tissue with the origins of the series,” [director Travis] Knight said.

According to Knight, problems arose because many felt “Michael’s aesthetic has been the defining aspect of these live-action films” and that there was a sense of “this is what a Transformers film is.” Eventually, though, he was able to coax them into it.

“People got on board pretty quickly but there was a little bit of hesitation,” he said. “[But] it was a real thrill bringing these characters to life in the way that I’d always envisioned them on the big screen. I was having the time of my life.”

“I had this whole thing boarded where we’re where we see [Decepticon leader] Megatron and he comes in like Sauron, just blowing shit up and laying waste to everything,” Knight said. However, he then realized in this world, Megatron is currently frozen on Earth, as seen in 2007's Transformers, so that was out.

“So even though I really wanted to see G1 Megatron on the battlefield at the fall Cybertron, I couldn’t do it,” he said. “But I wanted to fit as much of this G1 stuff I loved in there, and so I put my favorite characters in. Obviously there are ones I wish I could put in there, and I would love to see an entire movie about the fall of Cybertron because I think it’s awesome, but just to be able to visit it for a moment, to see the Cybertron of my imaginations on the big screen, it was a real thrill.”

Bumblebee: New TV Spot and Live Performance from Movie Soundtrack

Here are two new videos related to the December 22 release of Bumblebee in theaters. The first is a new TV Spot from Spain for Bumblebee that does feature a few new scenes. In addition, Hailee Steinfeld also performed a song for the movie called "Back To Life" which she performed on the MTV EMA (Europe Music Awards) that she hosted Sunday night.

Bumblebee Cast at SDCC Reveals Triple Changers

On Friday the cast of the upcoming Bumblebee movie appeared at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con to promote the movie. Director Travis Knight was on hand with Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Below are the few details that were revealed during the panel.

- Yep the panel opened with a live performance from Stan Bush of "The Touch" from Transformers: The Movie.

- Travis Knight: “It’s an origin story. ...We find out who he was before he met us, why he becomes the character he becomes — it gives the opportunity what he’s about. It’s a way to look at Transformers like we never have before.”

- Knight: His animation experience of world building helped when making the movie. He also looked to G1 designs of the character for inspiration more then the Bay designs while looking to provide each Transformer with a unique silhouette and color palettes to make them easy to tell apart in fight scenes. If didn't do that then it could look like “two Radio Shacks reenacting the Karma Sutra" according to Knight.

- For Knight, Steven Spielberg's coming of age films from the 80s were a source of inspiration for the story which is a "a beautiful love story between these two characters.” (referring to 'Bee and Charlie).

- Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) is suffering from a major loss when she meets 'Bee who will help her find "her voice".

- John Cena is playing Agent Burns who according to the actor "He knows that he’s right, and that’s the reason that he does, sometimes, the naughty things that he does."

- Decepticons Shatter (voice by Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (voice by Justin Theroux) are triple changers. So red Shatter's alt modes is a Plymouth Satellite and a plane. The blue Dropkick's alt modes is a AMC Javelin and a helicopter.

- There will be a look at Cybertron (hopefully not the beehive Bay version).

- Knight said the jet from the first teaser trailer is Starscream. It is Blitzwing (not confirmed if he is a triple changer too but traditionally he is).

- The US Army, with John Cena's character are hunting Bumblebee with the Decepticons providing help (not clear if the Army is aware of the assistance or not).

- Optimus Prime makes an appearance in hologram form, not clear if Peter Cullen does any voice work.

First Look at Bumblebee and Hailee From Movie

UK's Empire Magazine (via ComicBookMovie) what I think is the first official look at Bumblebee: The Movie stars Hailee Steinfeld and VW Beetle alt mode. In addition director Travis Knight spoke about the movie.

"I wanted to approach this massive, expansive franchise and really focus in on a tiny corner of the canvas. 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."

Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena Comment on Bumblebee: The Movie

Bumblebee: The Movie stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena briefly commented on the movie. Steinfeld spoke about acting against a CGI character for the first time with IGN while Cena spoke about the project in general with Digital Spy. Cena does call the movie a "reboot" but it is not. It is more of a prequel to the Michael Bay movies with its 1987 setting. It could be argued its a "reboot" of approach for the franchise with a ~$70 million budget (compared to ~$200M on average) and by virtue of being the first film not directed by Michael Bay.

Hailee 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.”

“It was definitely a process [acting against non-existent Bumblebee]. With his background in animation, [director Travis Knight] 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. It was definitely a work in progress but I think we got a good thing going and hopefully, we'll see what happens.”

John Cena
"It was awesome to be involved with that franchise, and a pleasure to be asked to be part of the movie, but I took the part because it was a challenge for me," he reiterated. "It's something that I haven't been able to showcase, and that I wanted to."

Bumblebee Wraps With Title and Logo Reveal

It seems that Bumblebee: The Movie has officially wrapped principle photography. At least according to posts on Hailee Steinfeld's Instagram account, at least before she was ordered to pull the images. Fortunately not before TFW2005 grabbed a copy. The main value in her images is the first look at the head of Bumblebee that seems to pay homage to his G1 horns while retaining much of his Bay-verse look. In addition the current title is Bumblebee: The Movie. I would not be surprised if this could be later altered to add "Transformers" to the title in some fashion for marketing purposes much like the official titles of Rogue One and Solo add "A Star Wars Story" just so the slower members of movie going audience do not get confused wondering "Is this part of Star Wars?".

John Cena as Sector 7 Agent on Bumblebee Set

To left is an image of John Cena in his likely Sector 7 uniform along with Bumblebee movie lead Hailee Steinfeld in her own "uniform" for the movie. Its not enough to suss out any story elements except to confirm the usual military prescence all Transformers movies have had, you can find the rest of the set at AllSpark.com.

Hailee Reveals Character Look for Bumblebee Movie

In a tweet earlier this week, Bumblebee movie star Hailee Steinfeld revealed the look of her character saying "Meet Charlie Watson. #BumblebeeTheMovie". The movie is set in 1987 but really the outfit could fit in 2017. The movie is currently filming for release on December 18, 2018. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Steinfeld Confirms Bumblebee Casting (Updated)

In a profile piece on Hailee Steinfeld who is on a singing tour in Australia, news.com.au spoke with the actress confirmed her casting in the Bumblebee movie.

On the eve of her whirlwind promotional visit to Australia next weekend to spruik Most Girls, Steinfeld was confirmed to star in the Transformers prequel Bumblebee. She will also appear on The Voice while in Australia.

“I am so excited to know that is the next movie I am working on,” she said as the news broke last week.

“Obviously I’m coming to Australia and when I come back, we start shooting.”

When the casting was first rumored, her character was described as "tomboy who also holds a job as a mechanic after school." Now that Wonder Woman has reminded Hollywood (for the umpteenth time) that there can be female action heroes, I can't help but wonder if changes were made to the script to accommodate this "new" reality.

Update: In another interview with BBC's Newsbeat, the actress re-iterated the casting:

"I am so excited I'm doing the spin-off, it's starting very soon," the 20-year-old actress and singer told Newsbeat.

"It's crazy to think about. I'm a big fan of the Transformers movies and I can't believe I am going to be in a version of them."

"I will be shooting Bumblebee in the States and working on the music at the same time. So we will see how that all pans out," she says.

"But this movie is really something special. It has a great storyline and this character that I play, who you will soon meet, is really special. So I'm very excited for people to see it."