When the Transformers films started, before the giant swinging robo-balls and Dinobots, the opening instalment was a man-and-his-car movie where the car happened to be a sentient alien robot. Now with fan-favourite Autobot Bumblebee getting his own self-titled spin-off, the series is looking to go back to that point – character and emotion being just as important as rock-‘em-sock-‘em brawls. This time the series is heading back to the ‘80s, with a lead in True Grit and Pitch Perfect 2 star Hailee Steinfeld, and Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight at the helm. Empire has a brand new Bumblebee image, as seen in the forthcoming September issue.
For this new take, Bumblebee is in his classic VW Beetle disguise and attempting to adjust to a more domestic setting. “A giant chunk of our movie is about his relationship with Charlie [Steinfeld], and as it goes on he makes a total mess of her house,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told Empire. “He’s intrigued by her dog. And it’s funny to watch her turn him onto ‘80s culture.”
Read more about Bumblebee’s different approach to the Transformers series in the new issue of Empire – featuring the Greatest Star Wars Characters of All Time – hitting shelves on Thursday 9 August. The film will arrive in UK cinemas on 26 December.
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