We haven’t seen the last of ‘Transformers,’ or any of Hasbro’s other properties on the big screen. The toy company has now struck up a new deal with Paramount.
When we first met Bumblebee in the Transformers movies he was as Chevy muscle car, a modern, macho upgrade from his toy and cartoon origins. Chevy’s are great and all, but they’ve got nothing on a Volkswagen beetle. Luckily Bumblebee will get to return to his original bug form from the Transformers toys and cartoons in his upcoming solo movie, and today brings our first look.
Now that Mark Wahlberg is out, the Transformers franchise is in dire need of another white male actor who has giant biceps, hails from Massachusetts and whose former career path involved rapping while shirtless. Enter John Cena, who has officially signed on for a lead role in the ’80s-set Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, which has additionally been pushed back from its previous summer 2018 release date and given a more festive December date.
Just a few weeks after Transformers: The Last Knight rolled into theaters, Paramount is getting that Bumblebee prequel on the fast track. Today we got the news of a rumored mysterious working title, an official title (complete with colon, like all of today’s young adult franchises), and an extremely soon production start date. Like, very soon. Like, within a couple of weeks from now.
Paramount’s Transformers spinoff Bumblebee is on the fast track, and quickly gathering cast members. After Hailee Steinfeld, another rising star has just joined the Transformers family: Jorge Lendeborg Jr. has been cast as the male counterpart to Steinfeld’s heroine in the movie.
And now, that time is near, where we face San Diego's Comic-Con. Our friends, we'll say it clear, and reveal to you all the exclusives. There's no wrong way to enjoy San Diego Comic-Con, but for many, picking up rare artifacts from the world's foremost geeky manufacturers is an honored tradition. With that in mind, we've taken a long look at what Hasbro's got to offer its fans from the realms of Star Wars, Marvel, Transformers and beyond to help you in your quest to get what you so desire.
Have you ever seen those movie ads on TV filled with gushing quotes from critics and thought to yourself, “I saw that movie; it was terrible. Where did they find these positive reviews?” If you have, you’re not alone — and you’re going to love ScreenCrush’s series, Critics Are Raving!, which balances the cinematic scales with trailers full of slightly more accurate (and slightly more negative) lines from reviews. Real critics. Real quotes. Really bad movies. That’s what’s Critics Are Raving! is all about.
The Transformers movies are basically perfect except for one small problem: Bumblebee, the lovable Autobot hero, isn’t a Volkswagen Beetle, as he was in the original Transformers toys and cartoon series. (In the films, he’s a Chevy muscle car, the model of which varies based on whatever is Chevrolet’s hot new car of the moment.) Other than that? All five Transformers movies are basically 10/10, would own on Blu-ray.
If I had to pick the most egregious example of product placement ever, I would nominate the scene from Transformers: Age of Extinction, when the entire movie stops to examine the wreckage of a crash involving an alien spaceship and a Bud Light truck. The camera pans across a street littered with Bud Light bottles; then Mark Wahlberg picks one up, cracks it open, and takes a healthy swig. And while he’s shilling beer, there’s a second product placement in the background; just over his shoulder, very much in focus, is a giant Goodyear Tires sign.
The new Transformers movie is all about buried secrets. Texan Bostonian inventor bro Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and brainy Oxford professor Vivian Frumplebumple (okay I admit it: I didn’t catch her last name so I made that up) discover a world they never knew: The hidden history of Transformers on Earth. It turns out the Transformers have played a role in every armed conflict throughout time. The Transformers helped King Arthur, and they threw an assist to the Allies during World War II. There’s more to meets the eye in those history books, doncha know.