Last week during CinemaCon, Transformers: The Last Knight director Michael Bay teased that there are 14 more Transformers movies that Paramount is planning, which were developed through the massive writers room the studio put together. After Transformers: The Last Knight hits theaters, the next project coming out will be the studio's Bumblebee spin-off, which has been slated for release on June 8, 2018, with Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) set to direct. Michael Bay, who will be producing all of these spin-offs, recently confirmed that this Bumblebee movie will be a prequel, with another report claiming that filming will begin in July.
MTV caught up with Michael Bay during CinemaCon, where he reiterated his previous statement that there have been 14 Tranformers movies already written. When asked specifically about the Bumblebee spin-off, the producer wouldn't shed too much light on the story, but he did confirm it will be a prequel, and it will solely center on his character, which could mean that he is the only Transformer in the movie. Here's what Michael Bay had to say below.
"It'll go a little younger, and it will deal more with his character and it's just about him."
When asked when the movie would take place in the timeline, he would only say "Back," confirming again that this will be a prequel. Back in January, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura teased that the upcoming Transformers: The Last Knight will in fact connect to the Bumblebee spin-off, although he wouldn't offer any specifics. With Transformers: The Last Knight hitting theaters on June 23, it's possible we could get more answers about the Bumblebee spin-off through that movie, before production starts on the spin-off.
Travis Knight, who co-founded the stop-motion animation studio LAIKA and made his directorial debut with last year's Kubo and the Two Strings, is directing from a screenplay by Christina Hodson (Gotham City Sirens). She was part of Paramount's writers room that includes Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Zak Penn (Pacific Rim 2), Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man), Lindsey Beer (Barbie, Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Tomb Raider). It is believed that these writers delved through all aspects of the Transformers mythology, including the original animated series and the comic books as well.
As for the July principal photography start date, that information was revealed by the production tracking website My Entertainment World, although it doesn't specify where production will take place. While that start date for Bumblebee hasn't been confirmed by Paramount yet, if it is true, then we may start hearing casting updates in the near future. Previous reports have claimed that this spin-off will provide Bumblebee with an origin story, perhaps explaining how he lost his capability to speak, although that has yet to be confirmed. Still, if production is happening within the next few months, we should be hearing more about Bumblebee quite soon.