Bumblebee Movie Part of Goodbye Beetle Campaign from Volkswagen

It's kinda saddening that such an iconic car is going away. I quite like the new beetles and the golf its based on isn't that inspiring...

A big question regarding the Bumblebee movie was whether or not it was a reboot. We know the producer Lorenzo Di Bonventura said he would not call it that but now we have confirmation from the director, Travis Knight, that the Bumblebee movie is within the pre-established "Bayverse" continuity, whatever that may mean to you.

These were the exact words:

We set the film 20 years prior to the events of the first film, but so-we still needed some degree of continuity there.

So there you have it folks, the Bumblebee movie may be a step in the right direction, or a breath of fresh air, but it is not a full on reboot, and it is still embedded within the universe Michael Bay helped bring to life (Michael Bay is still a producer on this film after all).

Of course, that is not all Travis Knight had to say in the featurette below from IGN. He talks a lot about his choice behind the design changes we see in the movie and the heavy emphasis on G1. There is a really fun tidbit about Soundwave's chest window too, enjoy!

I really wish that they decided that Bumblebee would be a reboot... Would make the drastic shift in design easier to swallow... Now seeing that it's set in continuity, that makes me dislike the movie a bit because of things that occur in this movie that contradict previously established occurrences. It's still probably my favorite, but it's such a stark contrast that you'd think they'd ditch the Bay films. Especially cause it looked like they were setting it up to be the start of a new movie series at the end

Well, you know that they could easily turn around and make this a reboot though right?

I don't think there is any doubt this film went into production as a prequel or anything and no doubt the film makers still have a lot of the thought process of this being a prequel.

But if they decided to keep this as a prequel after the box office results are in then this will be franchise suicide.

The Bay continuity cannot be salvaged anymore, Bumblebee is a great film on it's own but it is a horrible prequel that breaks a lot more continuity for the first film alone then it does tie to it.

For the good of the brand this cannot be allowed to be a prequel, at least Hasbro should know this, with all the excitement about people thinking Bee is a reboot Paramount should realize it would be very profitable to go clean slate and start anew.

You lose all tension when you have characters like Jazz or Shockwave in the next film when you know they cannot die in that film due to their role in Bay's films but you also prevent a deeper emotional connection to these characters because they get killed in Bay's films.

This really is a shame. The Bumblebee movie on its own is a great movie, but it works as well as a prequel as The Last Knight works as a sequel. It is a continuity nightmare with the 2007 movie.

considering everyone else working on the film, even hasbro execs, apparently want it to count as a reboot, seems more of a thing where bay is saying "plz say its connected travis, please !!!" i'll count it as confirmed if the next film isn't a reboot.

XMen First Class was "prequel" in continuity with the other Xmen Movies. Then it was made part of a reboot sooooooo I'll wait and see how true this is in a year or two.

This... has completely turned me off to seeing it. I was seriously hopeful,I didn't even know bay was still attached to the film. We don't need any damn continuity with the previous movies, what the hell is he thinking.

uuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrgghh.

The movies themselves barely had any continuity with each other to begin with!

Both the Bumblebee movie music score and the soundtrack albums come out tomorrow in the US. We are told that the score is even available on iTunes right now (this may depend on your region). Below are the full track lists of each album where we can see that Stan Bush's the Touch is included as well (Good on you Stan!). We also have an interview with the Bumblebee music editor Mark Willsher to share with you. The interview is spoiler heavy, so you can click here to read it on Air Edel Music's web page.

The Score by Dario Marinelli includes the following tracks:

1. Cybertron Falls (1:53)
2. Bee on the Run (2:18)
3. Shutdown (3:45)
4. Charlie (3:07)
5. Meeting Bumblebee (4:07)
6. Dropkick & Shatter Arrive (1:38)
7. Chasing Mum (1:56)
8. Optimus Prime’s Message (2:05)
9. Desert Council (2:08)
10. Dad’s Old Videotapes (1:09)
11. Army Meeting (2:37)
12. A Diving Volunteer (1:32)
13. Pranking Tina (2:13)
14. Bee in the Kitchen (2:33)
15. Kitchen Chaos (1:45)
16. Double Ambush (2:21)
17. Charlie Sneaks Out (0:59)
18. Death and Resurrection (2:27)
19. Bee’s Had Enough (5:15)
20. Ron’s Driving (1:42)
21. Marina Tower (2:55)
22. Charlie Dives In (2:38)
23. Saying Goodbye (2:26)
24. Not Quite There (1:48)

The Soundtrack features the following songs:

1. Back to Life – Hailee Steinfeld (3:53)
2. Bigmouth Strikes Again – The Smiths (3:15)
3. Things Can Only Get Better – Howard Jones (3:56)
4. Runaway – Bon Jovi (3:52)
5. Save a Prayer – Duran Duran (3:46)
6. Higher Love – Steve Winwood (5:49)
7. Take On Me – a-ha (3:48)
8. Everybody Wants To Rule the World – Tears for Fears (4:12)
9. It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock (5:01)
10. The Touch – Stan Bush (3:56)
11. I Can’t Wait – Nu Shooz (3:38)
12. I Can’t Drive 55 – Sammy Hagar (4:12)
13. Dance Hall Days – Wang Chung (4:00)
14. Girlfriend In a Coma – The Smiths (2:04)
15. Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds (4:22)
16. Back to Life (80s Remix) [Bonus] – Hailee Steinfeld (3:13)

SW's SilverHammer wrote:XMen First Class was "prequel" in continuity with the other Xmen Movies. Then it was made part of a reboot sooooooo I'll wait and see how true this is in a year or two.

How the hell was first class turned into a reboot? The sequel was all about paralels with cast members from later years.

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:,I didn't even know bay was still attached to the film.

We've known this since July...2017

william-james88 wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:XMen First Class was "prequel" in continuity with the other Xmen Movies. Then it was made part of a reboot sooooooo I'll wait and see how true this is in a year or two.

How the hell was first class turned into a reboot? The sequel was all about paralels with cast members from later years.

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:,I didn't even know bay was still attached to the film.

We've known this since July...2017

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:,I didn't even know bay was still attached to the film.

Having now seen the movie, I do wish they had gone or will eventually go for the reboot with it. Won't spoil anything here, but wish they went that route

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:This... has completely turned me off to seeing it. I was seriously hopeful,I didn't even know bay was still attached to the film. We don't need any damn continuity with the previous movies, what the hell is he thinking.

uuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrgghh.

The movies themselves barely had any continuity with each other to begin with!

Don't let this little hiccup stop you from seeing the movie. It really is very good, prequel or not.

Literally just got back from the theater. Loved the G1 stuff (of course) but the Bayverse stuff felt different... like a lite version of what came before (same writer, different director?). It was cool to see John Cena’s dad in the movie. Oh, wait that WAS John Cena. He’s aged badly from the last time I saw him in ‘03. There was so much 80s stuff in Bumblebee that I actually felt like I was watching a movie in the theatre in 1987... too bad it was only 5 people in the theatre total. Aquaman had the biggest screen. I guess the theater I went to is banking on Aquaman being the big draw. Yet, there were no waiting lines for either movie, so I don’t expect either of them to do well. I remember going to see DOTM on a Thursday night and the theater was packed... every seat taken, even in the front row. Wow, times change.

Bumblebee is a good movie though.

This just in from the NO-SHIT Department!

Got my ticket to finally see the movie first thing in the morning.


As for this whole prequel vs. reboot issue, y'all are killing me here. The movie being an in-continuity prequel was likely a mandate from on high, pre-established long before Travis Knight was even brought aboard. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that it was even one of the very first things about this movie that were conceived from the get-go. I sincerely doubt that the genesis idea for this movie was "Let's make a spinoff movie about Bumblebee set in the 1980s that has absolutely nothing to do with the other movies" rather than the much more likely idea of "Let's make a spinoff movie about Bumblebee set in the past as a prequel to the other movies."

Now, whether or not the movie actually succeeds or fails at being a continuity-adhering prequel to the other films isn't something I can discuss one way or the other, since I still haven't seen the movie yet. But all I am trying to say is that we shouldn't go pointing fingers at Travis Knight when this movie being a prequel likely wasn't his decision in the first place and was instead likely decided for him beforehand.

"some degree of continuity"

Lot of leeway in that statement.

It would be smart of them to not make any declarative statements anyway. Who knows what the next writer/director will decide...

Sabrblade wrote:Got my ticket to finally see the movie first thing in the morning.


As for this whole prequel vs. reboot issue, y'all are killing me here. The movie being an in-continuity prequel was likely a mandate from on high, pre-established long before Travis Knight was even brought aboard. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that it was even one of the very first things about this movie that were conceived from the get-go. I sincerely doubt that the genesis idea for this movie was "Let's make a spinoff movie about Bumblebee set in the 1980s that has absolutely nothing to do with the other movies" rather than the much more likely idea of "Let's make a spinoff movie about Bumblebee set in the past as a prequel to the other movies."

Now, whether or not the movie actually succeeds or fails at being a continuity-adhering prequel to the other films isn't something I can discuss one way or the other, since I still haven't seen the movie yet. But all I am trying to say is that we shouldn't go pointing fingers at Travis Knight when this movie being a prequel likely wasn't his decision in the first place and was instead likely decided for him beforehand.

This is true, we wouldn't be having these arguments if the film didn't go into production as a prequel, that is indeed a fact.

However whether it is still a prequel despite the couple of giant continuity errors for the first film alone kinda put a lot of doubts in people's minds.

The biggest mistake Paramount/Hasbro could make at this point is making this a prequel to the Bay films after the overwhelming excitement over the potential that this film is a reboot of some kind, that would be the start of franchise suicide since people are burnt out from Bay's style of films and I doubt anyone but a few of the most heavily dedicated Bay film fans want to try to salvage that mess of a continuity anymore.

Thing is, if they had really wanted to make this film a complete reboot, there really wouldn't have been any reason for them to have stuck with Bumblebee's pacifier face over a more normal looking face, since it wouldn't have been the same character as the Bumblebee from the other movies.

Sabrblade wrote:Thing is, if they had really wanted to make this film a complete reboot, there really wouldn't have been any reason for them to have stuck with Bumblebee's pacifier face over a more normal looking face, since it wouldn't have been the same character as the Bumblebee from the other movies.

You can't just completely turn it to a full reboot midproduction by using a film that was fully well being made as a prequel, it would take a lot more money and time then they had that's unrealistic.

This film had a smaller budget it wouldn't be wise to hit full reboot mode just yet in case the movie failed due to the awful reception for TLK which damaged the franchise as a whole, which would mean that if they wanted to do another Transformers film they would have to do a full reboot all over again.

This way they can use the Bee film as a small transition movie to the next one to fulfill the full reboot it can be.

Bee's movie design is the more iconic one overall which is fueled by the last few Transformers shows with Bumblebee becoming a muscle car and Prime adopting the similar face style.

There are BIG continuity errors even if you only connect this film to the 2007 film and not just the ending.