BumbleBee–Your favorite (or second favorite) Transformer could jumpstart the franchise

Everybody who has ever loved a car can see something of themselves in the trailer for the latest film in the Hasbro Transformers movie series. If you’ve ever seen an old car on its last wheel and thought there was something more to be brought back, then the young Oscar-nominated actor Hailee Steinfeld is you in the first trailer for this year’s Christmas release of BumbleBee. In the same way that R2-D2 and BB-8, or Number Five, or WALL-E, or CHAPPiE, or Marvin, or Iron Giant, were made lovable in their iconic sci-fi films, Paramount and Hasbro are turning back the clock, scrapping the Michael Bay model that audiences have been tiring of, based on box office trending in the franchise. Less action, more heart.

It’s a car, but it might as well be alive. And better yet, BumbleBee–that classic toy yellow Volkswagen Beetle turned Optimus Prime-protector–is returning to its VW roots as this film shows him back in 1987, instead of the Camaro incarnation we saw in the movies. Whether he is your favorite Transformer or whether that honor falls to Optimus Prime, this new film may be just the thing to jumpstart the franchise.

Steven Spielberg is again executive producer. This entry looks more like a Spielberg picture than more recent sequels. In case you missed it, here’s the trailer for BumbleBee:

Directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) and written by Christina Hodson (Batgirl, Birds of Prey), starring Steinfeld (True Grit, Ender’s Game), John Cena (Psych, Ferdinand), Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. (Spider-man: Homecoming), Jason Drucker (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Long Haul), Kenneth Choi (Counterpart, Bright, Marvel Cinematic Universe), John Ortiz (The Cloverfield Paradox, Kong: Skull Island), Gracie Dzienny (Zoo), Rachel Crow (Rio 2), and Pamela Adlon (Bob’s Burgers), look for BumbleBee in theaters December 21, 2018.