Optimus Prime Confirmed For ‘Bumblebee’ Spin-Off
Transformers: The Last Knight, the latest inMichael Bay’s monstrousTransformersfranchise, may be one of theworst-reviewed filmsof 2017, but you can’t keep those Autobots down.Bumblebee,the first in a probably endless series ofTransformersspin-offs, is currently in production. And it looks like a familiar character is following Bumblebee into the spin-off: Optimus Prime will be bringing his big, bulky body along for the ride. See the details involving the Optimus PrimeBumblebeespin-off news below.
If you’ve had enough of the headache-inducing jumble of clanking bolts that is theTransformersfranchise, maybe some potentially smaller spin-offs will appeal to you. StarringThe Edge of Seventeen’sHailee SteinfeldandDaddy’s Home 2’sJon Cena,Bumblebeewill be helmed byKubo and the Two StringsdirectorTravis Knightand has been described as being more akin toThe Iron Giantby producerLorenzo di Bonaventura:
There are dramatically less Transformers. We hired purposefully Travis Knight, who is a very distinct filmmaker. You can’t compete with Michael, you’re gonna lose. And also I think the audience wants something different all the time, let’s keep them interested. They’re gonna get a very emotionally complex story, a very tight story in terms of its location and in terms of its storytelling. In fact it reminds me a little bit of ‘Iron Giant’ years ago when I did that movie at Warner Bros. It just reminds me a little bit of that where it was very contained and yet it didn’t feel small.
Peter Cullen Confirms Optimus Prime In Bumblebee
Despite di Bonaventura’s comment about “less Transformers” in theBumblebeespin-off, it looks like Autobots leader Optimus Prime will be finding his way into the film. Speaking with theCineMovie YouTube Channel,Peter Cullen, who has been providing the voice of Prime since theTransformersanimated series in the 1980s, confirmed that we’ll be hearing his voice inBumblebee. Granted, Cullen doesn’t confirm he’ll be voicing Optimus Prime in the film, so perhaps he’s been hired to be the voice of some completely unrelated character. But the odds are that he’s voicing Optimus, likely in a cameo.
Cullen has given voice to a host of memorable characters over his long career, includingWinne the Poohcharacter Eeyore in multiple Disney projects and the Predator in the firstPredatorfilm. But the actor has long said Optimus Prime is his favorite part, and that hebased the performance on his brother:
I was living with my brother Larry at the time. He had returned from service as a Marine in Vietnam, and I told him one day I was going out to audition for a truck.
And he says, “A truck?“And I said, “Yeah, but he’s a hero truck.““This is really good, Pete, yeah,” he said … “Well, if you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be a Hollywood stereotypical thing with the yelling and screaming.” He said, “Be strong enough to be gentle.” And Larry was that way.I had no idea what the script was going to be. But in effect, the lines just came out, and I just did my brother, Larry.Bumblebeewill hit theatersDecember 21, 2018.
