‘Transformers’ Bumblebee Spinoff Gets ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’ Director Travis Knight
TheTransformersmovies released so far have been a linear series of sequels, but a little while back we heard they’d bebranching out into spinoffs— and now one of those spinoffs is taking a massive, alien-robot-sized step forward. The Bumblebee movie has reportedly found a director inTravis Knight, who last helmed Laika’sKubo and the Two Strings.
Deadlinereported on the Bumblebee spinoff director. This will be Knight’s live-action directing debut, after he made his feature directing debut onKubo. While the stop-motion fantasy didn’t make much at the box office, it was beloved by critics and went on to get a Best Animated Film Oscar nomination. (It lost last weekend to Disney’sZootopia.) Knight is the president and CEO of Laika, and served as lead animator on its productionsCoraline,ParaNorman, andThe Boxtrolls.
On the flip side, the Bumblebee spinoff will the first time anyone besidesMichael Bayhas directed aTransformersmovie. But it won’t be the last, if Bay actually sticks to his guns this time about leaving theTransformersdirector’s chair for good. It should be interesting to see what a completely different filmmaker does with the franchise. Before Knight booked the gig, others in the mix includedJaume Collet-Serra(The Shallows),Rick Famuyiwa(Dope),Seth Gordon(Horrible Bosses), andAaronandAdam Nee(The Last Romantic), according toTHR’s Borys Kit.
The Bumblebee spinoff came out of the Transformers writers room, and it wasChristian Hodsonwho finally cracked the screenplay. Confirmed details about the story are few and far in between, although it’s rumored to take place decades before the events of the firstTransformersmovie. It’s also said tohave a lower budgetthan the previousTransformersfilm, so perhaps we can expect fewer bloated CG action setpieces.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura,Michael Bay, andStephen Spielbergare producing the Bumblebee spinoff along withBrian GoldnerandStephen Davisof Hasbro. Paramount already has it booked for release onJune 8th, 2018.
