Travis Knight to direct the Transformers Bumblebee Spinoff Movie

[drgon78]

Saw it not too long ago, easily the best live action Transformers movie.

[Andrew NDB]

Yeah, seems like this is the end of Transformers movies.

102 million production budget, 50 million marketing budget. Week 1 is wrapped and it only did 34 million here and 31 million overseas. It will drop about 50% next weekend's close, probably more.

Net-wise, Bumblebee is only sitting about 30 million... against a cost of 152 million. It's 122 million in the hole, right now, and will easily flatline around 70-80 million in the hole, optimistically.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Yeah, seems like this is the end of Transformers movies.

I am surprised it had lasted as long as it did, considering the "quality" of the movies.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Yeah, seems like this is the end of Transformers movies.

102 million production budget, 50 million marketing budget. Week 1 is wrapped and it only did 34 million here and 31 million overseas. It will drop about 50% next weekend's close, probably more.

Net-wise, Bumblebee is only sitting about 30 million... against a cost of 152 million. It's 122 million in the hole, right now, and will easily flatline around 70-80 million in the hole, optimistically.

Those are definitely the strongest notes that immediately jump out, but the studio will also have to consider a few other things:

- How crowded this week is for blockbusters. It's the talk of the movie-world right now for good reason. Mary Poppins, Aquaman, Bumblebee, and Spider-Verse all releasing around the same time, meant none of them were going to reach their full potential.

- the sour taste that the previous films must have had on Bumblebee's success, and the positive reaction Bumblebee is receiving. It won't undo all the damage done, but it does slightly change the narrative on this series and cleans up the name a tad.

There's also the fact that a lot of kids are on break for the next week or two, so there's always the chance that the very positive word of mouth this film is receiving, gives the film a slight boost.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with your points. But it's fun to find a few angles and reasons to root for the underdog and see if they come to fruition. A lot of hardcore fans seem to be enjoying the film, and while Hailee Steinfeld was the only true saving grace for my enjoyment of the film, it'd be a shame if the series were to end as soon as it finally found its' footing. My bet is that we will see another Transformers movie announced in the next year or two.

[Galactus]

It's possible this is the end of the road for the Transformers movies for a while but I have a suspicion that this franchise has made too much money for all involved for them to give up now.

It's possible that given Bumblebee's commercial failure that Paramount if not Bay himself will seek out a Bay-like director to retool the franchise back to the formula they feel last worked. Michael Bay presents: Jonathan Leibesman's Transformers perhaps?

If I'm being optimistic I could say even though it looks like Bumblebee wont be a financial success it's positive fan and critical reception may be enough for them to apply this formula to a proper Transformers movie which I would argue is what most fans want.

I doubt anyone at Paramount were really expecting this to do well. It's a movie about a single Transformer and not even the lead one. It's not like Bumblebee is even a real character in any of the previous live action Transformers movies why would you expect anyone to commit to this? This was put out because they'd made such a big deal about a Transformers extended universe to build hype for The Last Knight they had little choice to follow through on at least one. Even the release date suggests that they didn't think they had something commercially viable on their hands (same with Aquaman and Into the Spider-Verse) so the fact that it's making any positive waves at all might be enough for the next Transformers movie to be akin to a movie with this style than the Bay movies. But it totally has to be a proper Transformer movie and a proper reboot than this half attempt.

As a not entirely separate point I'm going to guess that Platinum Dunes are looking at this with interest.

[Andrew NDB]

Total reboot in 3-5 years.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

And given it's simultaneous pre-production next to The Last Knight, they didn't even know The Last Knight was going to be a flop yet.

If Bumblee bombs, following The Last Knight's bombing, though... that might be all she wrote for Transformers movies for a good while.

Did The Last Knight really bomb? It made triple it's budget worldwide that has to be enough to turn a profit.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Xav

Did The Last Knight really bomb? It made triple it's budget worldwide that has to be enough to turn a profit.

It did a PotC #5 level sink. And it was the first Transformers movie to not -- and by a lot -- make its budget "back" domestically. Which means a ton. Overseas factored in they did a little better than breaking even, factored into net. Which is why they immediately tabled and shuttered the release date of Transformers 6... and everything got quiet until Bumblebee press started.

That Bumblebee has failed means the end of all these things. After TF5 failed Bumblebee was their ace in the hole to do "Let's see what happens." Didn't work.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Bumblebee hasn't failed yet. it hasn't opened in all of the overseas markets yet, and when it reaches China, a big Transformers market, there will be no freshly-released Aquaman to compete with. Don't count this movie out just yet.

[ZariusTwo]

An animated movie is currently in development

https://movieweb.com/transformers-cybertron-movie/

[drgon78]

A animated movie sounds interesting.

I do hope that Bumblebee gets good word of mouth and makes it big overseas.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

This is definitely the best live-action Transformers movie and the only one I legitimately enjoyed. Not perfect but eons better than what Bay did.

[Xav]

Paramount must be so confused. Everybody said they hated the Bay films yet they made a ton of money. Now people are saying this is the Transformers movie they wanted yet no ones going to see it.

[Autbot_Benz]

Originally Posted by Xav

Paramount must be so confused. Everybody said they hated the Bay films yet they made a ton of money. Now people are saying this is the Transformers movie they wanted yet no ones going to see it.

well Paramount made the blunder to release it the same day as Aquaman Spider-Man into the spiderverse and Mary Poppins Returns. Also the last two Bay movies really soured people on the franchise

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

well Paramount made the blunder to release it the same day as Aquaman Spider-Man into the spiderverse and Mary Poppins Returns. Also the last two Bay movies really soured people on the franchise

Yeah. That was a cluster****. Because I had to watch all 3 of those movies on that weekend. I ended up seeing Aquaman first. then after the Holidays I was able to catch up and watch Bumblebee and Mary Poppins Returns after. I prefer that they release these movies per week and not at the same time.

[sdp]

Who expected Aquaman to do good though? The DCEU had doing horrible and Aquaman is seen as a joke by mainstream audiences.
Marry Poppins is a franchise that doesn't seem to be able to have appeal in 2018.
Spider-Man was an animated film and not live action so not seen as competition since it was for babbies

There was no Star Wars and Transformers had a new look. I can see why they tried.

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

But they didn't. And given it's simultaneous pre-production next to The Last Knight, they didn't even know The Last Knight was going to be a flop yet.

If Bumblee bombs, following The Last Knight's bombing, though... that might be all she wrote for Transformers movies for a good while.

I think it means that after TLK bombed they decided to make it a reboot instead of a prequel, hence we still have some things that somewhat connect to the first film but other things like designs and key aspects don't. This was their reboot and it failed, maybe Beast Wars or they'll first venture to see if Power Rangers can be a thing in film to continue their hasbroverse

[Galactus]

^^^

Thing is the various studios released all three of these movies in December to die.

They were all movies that I doubt they had much faith in but pretty much had to be made to save face for their various expanded universes. When they failed they could easily brush it off with "well we released it at the wrong time".

Kinda funny that two of them have become commercially successful and all three have been well received by critics and fans. Personally I think Bumblebee is the weakest of the three but it's still good and hope for this style to be built on.

Inevitably there will be another proper Transformers movie and when it happens the question goes will they go down the Bay route which has proven equally as unprofitable with the last installment or build on this style.

I reiterate that Platinum Dunes are looking at this with some interest and trepidation.

[Autbot_Benz]

Sequel in Development

https://www.slashfilm.com/bumblebee-sequel-development/

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Looks like, despite all predictions, it made enough money for a sequel. Seems like the studio was happy with the results.

You know, I wonder if a lot of the 'experts' who declare a movies success or failure based on box office, are mistaken in how much a movie like this has to earn to turn a profit.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Panda_Kahn_fan

Looks like, despite all predictions, it made enough money for a sequel. Seems like the studio was happy with the results.

You know, I wonder if a lot of the 'experts' who declare a movies success or failure based on box office, are mistaken in how much a movie like this has to earn to turn a profit.

On the other hand maybe the studio is too stubborn to call it quits over fear of losing the brand to someone else. They might be willing to take a loss if they think the sequel will recover their losses.