The Energon Pub

News Credits: 6188 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 5:22 pm

Seibertronian board admin Burn has pointed us towards some fresh news about the 2018 Bumblebee movie planned by Paramount as part of the their shared universe with Transformers - and beyond, given the the recent trends: according to Deadline, the script for the spin-off exists, written by Christina Hodson (one of the many writers in the Goldmans Writers' Room), and the studio are currently looking for a director! Find out more below, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is getting closer to liftoff on Bumblebee, the first spinoff of its billion dollar Transformers franchise, this one based on a popular character in the series. The studio finally has a script it’s sweet on, and will shortly go out to directors. This comes after Paramount and Michael Bay assembled a “writers room” constructed of his scribes who fleshed out the Hasbro universe. A late addition to that program, Christina Hodson, is the scribe who cracked the spinoff and turned in a script that will make it possible for Paramount to mount the film for 2018. Hodson was one of three female writers (Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet were the others) who joined a group of male scribes in the writers room in summer 2015, as they set out to hatch ideas to expand the mythology of the universe. The next sequel, Transformers 5, is directed by Michael Bay and scripted by Ken Nolan and Iron Man scribes Art Marcum & Matt Holloway. It hits theaters June 23, 2017, while Bumblebee has been dated for June 8, 2018.

At a time when Hollywood is looking for voices beyond the male scribes that usually dominate the action space, the emergence of Hodson as the scripter of such a large scale film is very encouraging. The scribe, half Asian and raised in London, started as a development executive. Since transitioning to screenwriting four years ago, she has quickly become a sought after scribe for muscular, female-driven stories in traditionally male-dominated genres. Hodson has the Farren Blackburn-directed thriller Shut In, with Naomi Watts and Jacob Tremblay starring for EuropaCorp and Lava Bear, and the Denise DiNovi directed erotic thriller Unforgettable, with Rosario Dawson, Katherine Heigl, and Whitney Cummings starring for Warner Bros next year.

She has hit the Black List with scripts three different times since turning to writing four years ago. One of those, her spec The Eden Project, sold in a splashy deal to Sony and Material Pictures. She has scripted a reboot of The Fugitive for Warner Bros and producer Arnold Kopelson, and is writing for Warner Bros and DC Entertainment an untitled feature set in that DC universe. Hodson is also writing a female-centric action epic for Nina Jacobson at Fox 2000, and has just cracked television, adapting the Japanese crime novel Out as a potential series for AMC. Hodson is represented by CAA, Kaplan/Perrone Ent. and Ziffren Brittenham.

News Credits: 191 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 5:28 pm

So that's Bay definitely gone, then?

I wonder what's in the job description. "Must be able to fill a quota of at least 67 explosions per movie."

News Credits: 61 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 6:17 pm

The Bumblebee Movie is looking for a director? :shock:

THIS IS MY CHANCE!

News Credits: 462 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:58 pm

The previous films had a director?

I kid, I kid.

News Credits: 30 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:38 pm

A Bumblebee spin-off set of films? Like the Bay movies already haven't all been mostly Bumblebee-centric?

Well I'll direct Bumblebee - to the EXIT! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooah!

News Credits: 462 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:49 pm

DeathReviews wrote:A Bumblebee spin-off set of films?

No. Just one Bumblebee spinoff film is confirmed. Other spinoff films are open to be about other things.

News Credits: 191 · Fri Nov 11, 2016 11:15 pm

Sabrblade wrote:
DeathReviews wrote:A Bumblebee spin-off set of films?
No. Just one Bumblebee spinoff film is confirmed. Other spinoff films are open to be about other things.

Specifically, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and... wait, no, that's everyone else that's marketable.

Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:07 am

God, if only I had some proper experience and a good résumé, I'd hound the hell out of them to be able to do this. I've always had a strong passion for writing, and I'm constantly coming up with new ideas. I'm even working on my own Transformers continuity right now. It would be heaven for me to get to make a real story with these characters, and take this continuity down a better path. I would seriously do anything for this. Maybe if I start working on a draft...? I know it's not plausible, and likely not to happen in a million years, but man this would be amazing to do.

News Credits: 191 · Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:12 am

Braker wrote:God, if only I had some proper experience and a good résumé, I'd hound the hell out of them to be able to do this. I've always had a strong passion for writing, and I'm constantly coming up with new ideas. I'm even working on my own Transformers continuity right now. It would be heaven for me to get to make a real story with these characters, and take this continuity down a better path. I would seriously do anything for this. Maybe if I start working on a draft...? I know it's not plausible, and likely not to happen in a million years, but man this would be amazing to do.

Ah, but this is purely a directorial role; not a writing role. In a lot of movies' cases one can be both Director and Writer - and arguably a movie can turn out better that way because it can fit that person's vision more - but in this case it's just directorial.

Sat Nov 12, 2016 5:17 pm

Kurona wrote:
Braker wrote:God, if only I had some proper experience and a good résumé, I'd hound the hell out of them to be able to do this. I've always had a strong passion for writing, and I'm constantly coming up with new ideas. I'm even working on my own Transformers continuity right now. It would be heaven for me to get to make a real story with these characters, and take this continuity down a better path. I would seriously do anything for this. Maybe if I start working on a draft...? I know it's not plausible, and likely not to happen in a million years, but man this would be amazing to do.

Ah, but this is purely a directorial role; not a writing role. In a lot of movies' cases one can be both Director and Writer - and arguably a movie can turn out better that way because it can fit that person's vision more - but in this case it's just directorial.

Ah. True. Oh well...

Sun Nov 13, 2016 10:42 am

Honestly? Bay was the best part of the creative team. But hey, at least we have an actual writer!

News Credits: 3 · Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:21 pm

Please no Paul Feig or Jon M Chu. Please.

Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:43 pm

Fairly excited, we should be expecting a rather unique direction with this one!

News Credits: 37 · Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:28 pm

Seems they found a director. Kubo was alright, but nothing I'll ever watch again.

http://deadline.com/2017/03/bumblebee-m ... 202034882/

News Credits: 54 · Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:49 pm

So uh Kevin is the first Knight to make a Transformers movie? lol

News Credits: 6188 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:57 am

SlyTF1 wrote:Seems they found a director. Kubo was alright, but nothing I'll ever watch again.

You shut your mouth. *cries again over Kubo*

News Credits: 6188 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:01 am

Fellow Seibertronian EvasionModeBumblebee has sent us a link to a new Deadline article, confirming the appointment of the director for the Paramount 2018 Bumblebee spin-off movie, which may or may not follow from the upcoming Transformers: The Last Knight movie!

The name is Travis Knight, which some of you might recognise from the excellent Laika stop-motion film Kubo and the Two Strings - but you can find out more below; give it a read, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub.

Bumblebee, the first spinoff of the Transformers franchise based on a popular character in the series, just landed as director Travis Knight, the helmer of the Oscar-nominated stop-motion animated success Kubo And The Two Strings. That film was Knight’s directing debut. Bumblebee would mark his first live-action film.

This time, Knight will be taking on a very different project, a big-budget 2018 tentpole for the studio. The screenplay, which emerged from Transformers director and Paramount’s writers room project, is from Christina Hodson. Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are producing with Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis.

Knight, the son of Nike founder Phil Knight, is also president and CEO of Laika. Based out of Portland, the animation house was founded about 11 years ago and since then has created high-quality and beautifully created features including The Boxtrolls, ParaNorman and Coraline. Along with Kubo, Boxtrolls was also nominated for an Oscar.

News Credits: 3 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:50 am

Bloody hell, a movie that isn't directed by Micheal bay?! Perhaps he was serious this time :shock:

News Credits: 3 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:57 am

ToaLeePrime wrote:Bloody hell, a movie that isn't directed by Micheal bay?! Perhaps he was serious this time

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Edit: Might as well add this:

Fri Mar 03, 2017 6:43 am

Have new-found hope for this one!

News Credits: 61 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:15 am

As much as I've enjoyed the previous films, I'm looking forwards to see what another director can do. Not only that, but it's all about Bumblebee! I can't wait for this!

Fri Mar 03, 2017 9:49 am

Since Bay isn't touching this one, it could be called, "Bumblebee, A New Hope."

News Credits: 16 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 10:08 am

Whoa. We could actually get a good Transformers movie? And I don't mean good in the way the 86 movie is relatively good, or the way that the Bay movies are relatively good, but critically good? It's almost hard to believe.

News Credits: 37 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 12:48 pm

It Is Him wrote:Whoa. We could actually get a good Transformers movie? And I don't mean good in the way the 86 movie is relatively good, or the way that the Bay movies are relatively good, but critically good? It's almost hard to believe.

Just so you know, the writer for this movie has only written one movie. That one movie sits at a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. People always seem to forget that the writer is usually mostly responsible for how critically successful a movie is. Not the director.

News Credits: 3 · Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:03 pm

As soon as I saw this, I thought, "Man, that guy is gonna get a lot of jokes about him supposed to have been the director of The Last Knight." Or jokes like "Bay has a movie called 'The Last Knight'. We in the Bumblebee movie have got the REAL last Knight."

Travis Knight? Get it?