Hailee Steinfeld Eyed For ‘Transformers’ Spin-Off ‘Bumblebee’
Is it weird to feel pretty good aboutBumblebee, the firstTransformersspin-off and the start of what Paramount hopes will be a long and healthy franchise post-Michael Bay? The film is set to be directed by Travis Knight, the incredibly talented director behindKubo and the Two Strings(one of the best films of last year) and now Oscar nomineeHailee Steinfeldis in talks to star.
Of course, the real star ofBumblebeewould be the title character, the sometimes rambunctious robot warrior who tends to act as Optimus Prime’s right hand man in the coreTransformersmovies. However, everyTransformersmovie needs a human being to gawk at the robots and ask questions about what the hell is going on so the audience can follow the plot. Enter Steinfeld.
The Hollywood Reportersays that Steinfeld will play “a tomboy who also holds a job as a mechanic after school.” Exact plot details are unknown, but this casting seems to harken back to the original “a boy and his car” approach that drove the original 2007Transformersmovie. Or “a girl and her car,” in this case.Bumblebeeis supposedly a prequel, so don’t take this as sign that everyone’s second favorite Autobot will surviveTransformers: The Last Knight…although Bumblebee being on Earth before the events of the first film does muddy an already confusing timeline.
Steinfeld made her big screen debut in Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2010 westernTrue Grit, where she stood toe-to-toe with some serious heavy-hitters and walked away with an Academy Award nomination for her trouble. Since then, she has acted steadily in all kinds of movies, dipping her toe into blockbuster waters withEnder’s Game, joining a popular franchise withPitch Perfect 2, and proving that she’s still a powerhouse of an actress when she lands the right role withThe Edge of Seventeen. TheTransformersmovies, for all of their mind-numbing inanity, have always had a strong track record when it comes to casting interesting and talented people (Mark Wahlberg is the exception to that rule). Steinfeld continues the trend beyond Michael Bay’s watch.
So let’s return to the question at the top of this article. Is it weird to feel good about anotherTransformersmovie, particularly one that will move beyond Michael Bay and allow another filmmaker into the mix? I’m ready to be optimistic about this one. Knight, who was the CEO and lead animator at Laika Entertainment before making his directorial debut onKubo, is a more soulful and sweeter filmmaker than Bay, whose crass and bombastic style has worn thin over the past decade. It’s time forTransformersto get some new blood – maybe Knight and Steinfeld can make this work.
