New Details on Transformers Bumblebee Movie with Lorenzo di Bonaventura #BumblebeeMovie
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 3:21 amMedia and entertainment online publication Entertainment Weekly has posted a fairly sizeable piece on the upcoming Bumblebee movie from the Paramount live action Transformers universe, featuring some information we were already aware of, plus some new details via an interview with producer Lorenzo diBonaventura.
In the piece, which you can read in full here, they touch on the idea of moving back on the Bumblebee story, shifting gears into a more 'vulnerable' role and look with the Volswagen beetle car mode, the choice of script and human lead Charlie / Hailee Steinfeld, what it might mean for the future of the movie franchise, and what other characters we're to expect in the movie itself - three Decepticons in total, including the jet who may or may not be Starscream after all. Partnering with our own speculations about the possible success of this new venture, why not join the discussion too, and let us know what you make of this direction for the movies?
In the piece, which you can read in full here, they touch on the idea of moving back on the Bumblebee story, shifting gears into a more 'vulnerable' role and look with the Volswagen beetle car mode, the choice of script and human lead Charlie / Hailee Steinfeld, what it might mean for the future of the movie franchise, and what other characters we're to expect in the movie itself - three Decepticons in total, including the jet who may or may not be Starscream after all. Partnering with our own speculations about the possible success of this new venture, why not join the discussion too, and let us know what you make of this direction for the movies?
“That was probably the most hotly contested thing, simply because: ‘Wow …. um, and the Beetle can go fast? Ooookay,’” di Bonaventura says. “But I’ve screened [a rough cut] three times, and there has not been a single comment from the audience that they didn’t like the fact that we made it the Beetle. The warmth of it certainly helps us, but also, the sheer freshness of it is really fun.”
That shape creates the sense of an under dog, which is a good thing for a hero who is in a strange world, all by himself, trying to find a way home.
“Psychologically, you’re absolutely right,” di Bonaventura says. “It’s kind of funny. A metal guy made out of a Camaro, or Bumblebee … is one is weaker than the other? I don’t know, but it is how you feel. It is what your experience is of it, in a way.”
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“It’s nice it’s changing,” di Bonaventura says, acknowledging that the Transformers films haven’t exactly delivered strong roles for women. “When we were debating it, the idea of a young girl seemed to us to be a real change in our direction.”
And Steinfeld proved to be the fearsome flesh-and-blood lead they needed. “I’m just amazed at how talented she is,” di Bonaventura says. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actor never miss a beat for the entire shoot. It was crazy. We ended up ahead of schedule because she was just so on it all the time. We could move quicker.”
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Another change was reducing the sheer number of robots-in-disguise featured in this movie. That allowed screenwriter Christina Hodson to focus on the bond between Charlie and Bumblebee and tell a coming-of-age story at the heart of this epic action adventure.
“She wrote a really beautiful script that really played into the emotion of the relationship of the two,” di Bonaventura says. “So looking at the movie from that perspective, we thought, we don’t want to overwhelm one Autobot with too many Decepticons. So he has three primary antagonists.”
Two others, who take the form of automobiles, are also being kept secret for now.
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Right now, Bumblebee has to pull off his own film, though.
“If Bee’s successful, we can have a Bee 2, no doubt,” di Bonaventura. “We have a good sense of where a second movie would go. For me, the greatest thing that came out of the writer’s room was the sense that we could go in any number of directions. It opened up our minds to choices.”
